Dave Cruz/The Arizona Republic
Armando Sarabia has a scholarship to ASU, but he may not be able to attend because
he is an illegal immigrant.
By Daniel González
The Arizona Republic
June 20, 2002 12:00:00
http://www.arizonarepublic.com/arizona/articles/0620immigrantstudents.html
Armando Sarabia embodies the American dream.
The son of migrant farm workers from Mexico, the 18-year-old shone as a stellar
student and athlete at Millennium High School in Goodyear.
His father toiled in the sprawling fields of the West Valley picking watermelon while Armando stuck to the books, graduating in May with a 4.0 grade-point average and high honors. He plans to attend Arizona State University, which has awarded him a full tuition scholarship at the Tempe campus.
But Armando may never realize those dreams because he is an illegal immigrant.
Growing numbers of illegal immigrants are attending schools in Arizona, but they face a dead end after graduation, educators say. Proposed federal legislation granting them green cards would make it easier for them to work or go to college, supporters say, but opponents argue that would be unfair to immigrants who come legally and follow immigration rules.
Related link
• Read about the economic impact of immigrants in Arizona at migrants.azcentral.com.
"This is like a dream for me. I'm the first one in the whole family to
go to college. But I don't know what is going to happen to me because I don't
have papers," said Armando, whose family moved to Avondale in 1998 from
Nogales, Sonora, when Armando was 14.
Wasted investment
Thousands of students in Arizona face the same immigration conundrum once they finish high school. They can't work without a valid Social Security number. And college is beyond reach for most.
Educators say that most illegal immigrants don't even apply out of fear of exposing themselves and their families to deportation. Those who do apply often face insurmountable financial barriers, and graduates face the real possibility of never putting their degrees to use.
"It's like making a beautiful clay sculpture and then setting it out into the rain. We put all this time and investment in these kids and then we waste it," said Dorelyn Kunkel of Tempe. She is founder of a new group of parents, students and teachers that favors granting green cards to high school graduates who are in the United States illegally.
Kunkel administers a federal math support program for English learners at North Canyon High School. She says she encounters many bright students who face a dead end after graduation because of their legal status.
Under conflicting federal laws, states are required to provide undocumented students with a public education through high school, yet they can't get jobs legally and they are not eligible for student loans or any kind of federal financial aid.
"They really are de facto Americans," she said. "These kids did not break the law. Their parents transplanted them here. And by federal law we have to provide them with an education through 12th grade but just at the point where they could enter the workforce and start paying back, we cut them off," she said. That frustration leads many to drop out, she said.
Green card or bus trip?
U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, has introduced legislation called the Student
Adjustment Act that has bipartisan support and 31 co-sponsors in the House.
Cannon's bill would grant green cards to illegal immigrants younger than 21
who are enrolled in high school or college, have lived in the United States
for at least five years and are of "good moral character."
Lawmakers in the Senate are working on similar immigration bills.
But granting undocumented students legal residency would be a first step toward a full-blown amnesty program that would reward lawbreakers and encourage more illegal immigration, said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C. Instead of granting undocumented students legal residency, they should be deported, he said.
"I'm not saying these kids aren't in a difficult position. But they are (in it) because of their parents' lawbreaking," Krikorian said.
Phoenix resident Patrick O. Walsh, coordinator of the group Concerned Citizens Network of Arizona, is also opposed to the idea.
"This wouldn't be fair to the ones that are waiting in line to get in" the United States, he said. "They are taking up space in our schools that they don't rightfully deserve."
Numbers growing fast
The number of students affected is difficult to calculate, but it is substantial, especially in states like Arizona with fast-growing immigrant populations. Education officials estimate that half of the 151,273 students in Arizona classified as English learners are illegal immigrants. The actual number is probably higher because not all undocumented students are English learners.
Nationally, there are an estimated 8 million illegal immigrants. The last amnesty program was offered in 1986. The number of undocumented students who graduate from high school every year and have lived in the United States for more than five years ranges from 50,000 to 65,000, according to the Urban Institute in Washington D.C.
Millennium High School Assistant Principal Dawn Blake Souza said the number of illegal immigrants at her school has grown steadily. The ones who want to further their education are more likely to attend community college, where tuition is a fraction of state universities', but most see no point because of their legal status.
"We encourage them to do well and succeed and compete, and then the door is shut in their face," she said.
Cheaper tuition
In the past year, Texas, California and Utah all passed laws intended to make it easier for illegal immigrants to attend college by allowing high school graduates from their states to pay in-state tuition instead of the full out-of-state tuition, regardless of whether they're in the United States legally.
Arizona education officials say they have followed that policy for more than a decade.
"Unless a student has an international student visa, the ability to establish residency for tuition purposes has nothing to do with immigration status," according to a May 22 letter from the Arizona Board of Regents and the State Board of Directors for Community Colleges of Arizona. The letter was sent to the Arizona-Mexico Commission.
Tim Desch, director of undergraduate admissions at ASU, said only 34 students who indicated they are undocumented applied for the fall 2002 semester.
Most undocumented students are afraid to fill out the application for fear of exposing themselves or their families, said David Morales, an ASU admissions representative who helped recruit Armando Sarabia.
Armando was awarded one of ASU's Maroon and Gold Scholarships, given primarily to outstanding Arizona high school scholars who are ethnic minorities, first-generation college students or low-income students. Armando said he plans to study architecture next fall, but he realizes his legal status may prevent him from using his degree.
His father has applied for permanent residency, but it could take several years to be processed.
Going back to Mexico is one option, he said. But he'd rather stay here. That may mean a life of picking watermelons with a college degree.
Reach the reporter at daniel. gonzalez@arizonarepublic.com or at (602) 444-8312.
