Calling On All DREAMers!

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Almost Normal...

It is very encouraging how many DREAM Act news articles have surfaced in the last few weeks. This particular article I enjoy because it focuses on older DREAMers - not the ones who are just graduating High School, but DREAMers who graduated college. As difficult as it is for undocumented students who just graduate high school, it only gets more difficult as the years tick by and especially after earning a degree - four long years of hard work - that is now useless. While in college, DREAMers can pretend they are almost normal. Don't have a car? Can't afford it with college expenses. Work as a waitress? Plenty of 'college kids' take those jobs. After you have a college degree, it gets a lot hard to explain why you still don't have a car and still work as a waitress.

Well-educated and undocumented

by JESSICA TERRELL

Thousands of undocumented college graduates face major hurdles while looking for employment. Most were brought here by their parents.


Carried into the United States in her mother's arms, Maria became a criminal when she was just over 2-weeks-old.

Of course, she did not know that at the time. Maria found out that she was an illegal immigrant when she began applying to colleges at 17, and told herself that if she was unable to gain U.S. citizenship by the time she was 30, she would leave the country forever.

Now 22-years-old and a graduate student at Cal State Fullerton, Maria, who is still undocumented, said that she tries not to think about her lack of citizenship and the obstacles it could create for her future.

Maria is one of thousands of students in Orange County who have been able to attend college through AB 540, a California law that allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition, rather than the higher fee charged to non-California residents.

The Register is withholding the full names of the undocumented students at their request and under newspaper policy that recognizes the potential for retaliation against them.

Undocumented students are ineligible for state or federal financial aid, but do get help under a policy that allows them to pay the same fees as California residents. For example, non-California residents pay an additional $20,608 a year at the University of California; up to $10,170 at the California State University: and up to $170 per unit at community colleges.

Since AB 540 was enacted in 2001, a growing number of undocumented students in California have been able to pursue college degrees. There are no statewide numbers on how many undocumented students receive help through the program or how much they receive.

While the bill has opened doors to some undocumented students, it has also created a big debate about the legality and merit of subsidizing education for illegal immigrants. And for students like Maria, who would not otherwise have been able to afford higher education, AB 540 has created a huge unanswered question: What happens after graduation?

Full article here.

Will Obama Forget about DREAMers?

Obama winning the Presidential election was a big step toward the passage of DREAM Act, but in no shape or form does it guarantee it. Advocates for DREAM Act must continue pushing, and not allow this issue to be thrown to the side or put on the back burner.

Members over at DAP have recently found two quotes Obama made about the DREAM Act while he was running for President.

P: There are many students as we speak listening to this show. Will you bring back the DREAM act and would it be part of your priorities in your first year as president?

O: As I said before, the DREAM Act is something I have been a sponsor of in the past. Dick Durbin, my senior senator from Illinois and I have worked diligently on the issue. I was a supporter of the DREAM act when I was in the state of Illinois and we were able to get it passed. I think it is the right thing to do. I think it is something that I will continue to work on.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/tneil/CPrg

OBAMA: Well, I just think that it is very important for everybody to vote. And so, I hope that people are moving forward with early voting. You’ve got an opportunity I think in this election to choose somebody like myself, who has worked for 20 years alongside people of all races, as a community organizer, somebody who was a civil rights lawyer, somebody who as a state legislator at the state level, helped to promote our version of the DREAM act so that children could go to college, regardless of their citizenship status. At the federal level, somebody who has worked not only on immigration reform, but also on the DREAM Act, also on making sure that we are dealing with the dropout situation in our communities. So I think you can have confidence that I will be a champion for the values of South Texas when I am president of the United States of America. I hope everybody considers voting for me, and I hope they take the time to vote early.

http://www.radiobilingue.org/nr_080222.htm

Let us work on pressuring President-elect Obama to keep his word.

GTCC students at heart of immigration debate

Last month in North Carolina, a decision was reached that all Community Colleges in that state had to 'open their doors' to undocumented students; however they would still be charged out-of-state rates. Though most colleges and universities in the United States do admit undocumented students, there is never a guarantee.

As with anything related to immigration, there was an outcry in North Carolina. I find it strange that anyone can be against the education of young people, whether they are here legally or not.

In a recent article dealing with this very thing, Martin Lancaster, president of the community college system, defended the decision:

"In every era of American history, the latest wave of immigrants has faced the same opposition that Hispanics now face whether they arrived on our shores with or without documents," Lancaster wrote. "We are a nation of immigrants and if one reviews the names of those who have called or e-mailed the system office in opposition to our open-door policy, one must conclude that fifty or one hundred years ago, their grandparents or great grandparents faced the same opposition that they are now voicing."

In the same article, one undocumented student, Elena is quoted:

"There are some of us who are struggling very much to get an education," she said. "Some people don't get an education by choice, but that's not our situation."

The article also touches on the day to day stress of the lives of illegal immigrants:

In addition to the usual school stress, Elena worries about immigration agents - that they might deport her or her mother. That's a common worry for undocumented students, said Kristina Johnson, coordinator of the Latino Mental Health Awareness Campaign at the Mental Health Association in Greensboro.

"All of our families live with this stress," Johnson said. "The constant anxiety causes levels of cortisol to remain unnaturally high, which can affect your physical health."

Elena lives with her mom, and since she cannot get a NC drivers license, her mom drives her around.

"Because of that I do not feel independent," she said.

The full article can be read here.