The Importance Of Unocumented Students In Public Education

The reality that immigration policies and registration requirements create for undocumented students is a grim one; despite their scholarly capability, thousands upon thousands of undocumented students who have completed high school do not continue on with their education because of the lack of legal paperwork (DREAM Act). This has been the story line for countless undocumented valedictorians, like Grecia Cantu, who’s dream of going to Baylor University to become a teacher was plucked by a simple mandate of Congress (Smith). Despite having a presidential scholarship to Baylor University, Grecia’s future is hampered by her illegal status in the country and the inactivity of the DREAM Act in congress, which is due largely to its brisk opponents. Critics of the legislation falsely advocate that it grants preferential treatment to undocumented students (Malkin 1). In reality, the DREAM Act only grants qualifying individuals with a temporary residency, a driver’s license, and a work permit (Giving the Fact). This allows the students who meet the criteria the same tuition rates as natural-born citizens and a legal way to work and drive in the country. Another resounding critic among the opponents of the bill includes the common misconception that the DREAM Act will provide amnesty and forgive the federal offense immigrants committed when they entered the country illegally (Smith). In truth, only immigrants who entered the country during their youth, before age 16, are eligible for the benefits of the legislation. Once they apply, they will have to fulfill the requirements of completing a 2-year college or serve a 2-year term in the armed forces to finally receive resident status, not citizenship, after 6 years of proved residency (Creating Opportunities). If Congress allowed this legislation to

Undocumented students are becoming a growing outrage in the United States. It has been a constant battle amongst the students, the schools, and the Government. According to collegeboard.com, statistics shows that 65,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools each year (collegeboard.com).After graduating high school they face legal and financial barriers to higher education. This paper will address the importance of this growing outrage and discuss the following that corresponds to it.

In “Undocumented students’ Access to College: The American Dream Denied,” Chavez, Soriano and Olivia (2007) have stated that millions of students who live in United States are undocumented immigrants; most of them come to U.S at a very young age. They completed their high school and achieved great academic success, some of them even got admitted by well know universities. From 2002 onwards , Assembly Bill 540 (AB 540) , authorized by the late Marco Antonio Firebaugh , allows any student who has completed three years high school, and received a high school diploma or equivalent in California, regardless of their immigration status, are legally allowed to attend colleges and universities (Chavez,Soriano and Oliverez 256).Even though they are eligible to apply and be admitted to universities, but they are not eligible to apply for federal financial aid, without the help of financial aid, it is extremely difficult for them to afford tuition. In this case, it severely limits undocumented student’s chances for upward mobility.

This article analyzes the different effects the California Assembly Bill 540 has had on undocumented students. The study is done through a longitudinal study that interviews students before, soon after, and four years after the passage of the law. Through these finding it shows how the AB 540 bill benefits undocumented students and has made it socially acceptable for them to identify. In my paper I will use this source to explain what the bill does for undocumented students and how they benefit from the bill. I will support my argument by using this quote: “The law grants undocumented immigrant students an exemption from out-of-state tuition, thereby making some forms of higher education more accessible.” I will also use the topic of enactment

Plyler v. Doe, 1982 (American Immigration Council, 2012). The Supreme Court issued a ruling, based on the Fourteenth Amendment, that states cannot deny students a free public education because of immigration status. In addition, the court also said that denying children access to public education would be harmful to the children as well as society as a whole and that children should not be held accountable for their parents’ actions.

However, lack of in-state residency and tuition rates for American students contravenes the above reality. The implication is that if college is within reach, students will be encouraged to excel at their high school levels. American families as well will be encouraged to work and make any sacrifices that would see their children attend and graduate from college. However, this can’t be the case if in-state tuition rates are only accessible to the undocumented students. The impact it poses is students’ under-performance in high school and higher drop out cases. Students are not motivated with the absence of educational opportunities that they believe are their ‘own rights.’ By not providing in-state residency and tuition for American students, and subjecting them to expensive out-of-state residency and tuition costs, the state is only creating a class of high school dropouts that becomes part of a permanent underclass in society, with the additional stress of social costs (Ryan 125). The state laws and the Institution Acts should therefore be revised to abolish or limit the granting of residency to the undocumented students and their access to tuition rates, all at the expense of American students.

If you were to ask the seniors in my class what their plans are after high school, a majority of them will tell you college. Some will attend UCs, others CSUs, and some will attend community college.Some attend community college because their legal status hinders them to attend a four year university right away, but at community colleges that is not the case. As an AB540 student living in California, going to college is already an obstacle that has had some relief, California allows undocumented students to receive state aid and loans, one form of this type of aid is the BOG fee waiver, making students in financial need to have a tuition free community college experience. Most states already

Approximately 200,000 to 225,000 undocumented immigrants enroll in American institutions of higher education and represent 2 percent of all students in college (Suarez-Orozco, Katsiaficas, Birchall, Alcantar, & Hernandez, 2015). Undocumented students have low rates of enrollment to programs of higher education in comparison to documented students. When undocumented students begin college, they go through struggles to adapt and assimilate to college life. As a result of feeling disconnected to the campus they attend, undocumented students may look for different options for support, such as clubs and centers offered for students. In recent years, there have been legal changes set in place to support the success of undocumented students enrolled in higher education, which include in state tuition, financial aid, and scholarship opportunities. These changes have given undocumented students more choices and access to

According to Golden Door Scholar, there are 1.4 million undocumented students in the United States and out of the 1.4 million students, only 7,000 will attend college. Defined by Educators for fair consideration, undocumented students are “foreign national individuals who entered the United States without inspection or with fraudulent documents.” There are programs to make it easier for undocumented students to attain an education like the DREAM Act. Although the DREAM Act is in effect, this is still not enough for undocumented students to attend good colleges and get the same rights as a citizen of the United States. Undocumented students should live their life

Government needs to access and make new policies for what happens after undocumented students graduate from college (Achieving Equity for Latino Students p. 117)

Significance: Since 2001, state legislatures have been battling over the issue of whether or not to provide undocumented students, who have lived in this country for many years, a chance at a low-cost college education.

Children of undocumented immigrants are entitled to public education, because the U.S. constitution guarantees that migrant children and children born in the U.S. have equal educational opportunities. European immigrants migrated to the United States without question of their legal status, and were able to easily blend in, however, in the current time, race plays a great part in how people perceive undocumented migrants. Children are the future of our country and their education shouldn’t be determined by their parent’s legal status. I plan to use this article to explain how immigrants are treated differently than they were in the past, and how race may play a role into it.

Plyler v. Doe was a case in which a Texas statue withheld local and state funding for the education of immigrants who were deemed illegal aliens. In this case, the plaintiffs represented school-aged children of Mexican dissent. These children were just recently admitted to the U.S.A. Since the students were undocumented people the school district asked parents to parents to pay $1,000, which would cover the expenses for the school, and enroll them into school. This case was then brought to the district court which found that the reason for higher admission rates wasn’t because of the increase in immigrants, but the increase of people in the surrounding areas, which were legal residents. Because of this the district court decided that illegal

“According to recent immigration data, approximately 5.5 million children in the United States under the age of 18 live in undocumented households, and between 1.5 and 2 million of them are undocumented students (American Immigration Councü, 2011; Kossoudji, 2009; National Immigration Law Center [NILC], 2009) It has come tot he attention of many that these undocumented students live in fear of deportation, and also face an unequal educational opportunity to pursue higher education. As expensive as it may be to spawn this piece of legislation, Congress should pass the DREAM Act because it can make it so illegal immigrants gain citizenship by service in the any military force, it will also allow them to achieve better education, and they will be able to contribute to the U.S. economy.

Supreme Court decided in Plyler v. Doe that the equal protection provision of the Constitution's 14th Amendment requires public schools to admit illegal alien children, on the presumption that denial of public education to children whose parents brought them illegally to the United States is not a rational response to states' concerns about illegal immigration. 1 The opinion, however, was based on specific circumstances that could change and it did not apply to education beyond mandatory public schooling (qtd. in Stewart, par. 8).