Idalia, an undergraduate student at Dominican University, has lived a good part of her life in the United States. She, like many other college students her age, hopes to graduate from college and find a good job.
Idalia’s status as an undocumented immigrant has caused her many difficulties in achieving her goals. Other undocumented students in this country share many of the dilemmas she faces.
According to a report by the Urban Institute, a non-partisan research group based out of Washington D.C., there are anywhere between 7,000 and 13,000 undocumented students enrolled in colleges across the nation.
Like Idalia, most of them were brought to the U.S. when they were young. Having no say in the matter, the decision to immigrate was made by their parents.
Idalia came to the U.S. in 1998 with her parents on a B2 visa. The visa allowed a six-month stay. Once in the U.S., Idalia’s family made the decision to stay indefinitely.
“I was eleven. I didn’t have a choice to stay or not. My parents obviously weren’t thinking that I was going to struggle later with work, or school. It wasn’t an option,” said Idalia.
Nine years later, the 20-year-old is now an education major in her second year. She plans to teach after graduation, but many obstacles stand in her way.
In order to become a teacher in the state of Illinois, there is a series of steps she must undertake. She will have to complete mandatory student observations and student teaching in order to graduate.
To be eligible for these programs, she will have to submit to a background check. Something she says will not be easy to manage without the necessary documentation.
“It’s difficult. The jobs you want to get, you can’t. You know that they are going to do a background check and you’re not going to pass. So you don’t even risk it.” said Idalia.
Undocumented students face many challenges as they balance schoolwork with whatever jobs they are able to find. They are offered no financial support by the federal government and many pay higher tuition.
In 1996, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) was enacted into law, prohibiting undocumented students from receiving federal student aid. It also excludes them from in-state tuition rates, making them pay double as non-residents.
In response, several states, including Illinois, passed legislation granting access for undocumented students to in-state tuition.
Even with the added assistance some states offer, undocumented students will continue to encounter setbacks that make graduating from college difficult.
With the solutions to their problems placed beyond reach, undocumented students are left with few options. Perhaps the most promising opportunity for undocumented students is legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL).
The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act would allow students with “good moral character” who entered the U.S. at age 15 or younger, five years before the bill’s date, to qualify for “conditional permanent resident status upon acceptance to college, graduation from a U.S. high school or being awarded the GED.”
The act also seeks to repeal current federal law that discourages states from providing in-state tuition rates on the basis of immigrant status.