Undocumented Students and Colleges July 7, 2008
Posted by iamashadow in Immigration, civil rights, college, dehumanization, deportation, discrimination, education, fear, human rights, illegal immigrants, illegal immigration, immigrants, law, life, opinion, personal, politics, racism, thoughts, undocumented student, undocumented students.1 comment so far
Well, the relationships between undocumented students and colleges has never been an easy one. I was lucky enough to accepted and then funded at my university, even if it is a public college. But most of us are not as lucky. So, the question really is, what is so scary about us that some states want to ban us from going to college.
I don’t get it. I mean, yes, I’m undocumented, true, but it is not like I chose to be here. Also, please, don’t come with the crap that just because I turned 18 I had the choice of going back. For someone, who at the age of 18, already had 8 years of being in the US, it was no choice at all. Now, I’m about to be 20 (a point my sister keeps reminding me of…) and I still believe that my life is here. I know that concept of an undocumented being able to have a life here is hard to understand to some folks, by which I mean the folks that say that I should pack up and go. It is not that easy you know, it is not just a matter of packing up. It is not just a matter of college really, it is a matter of our lives, which are here and we want them to continue here. I wrote in a past entry, my life is here, girlfriend, friends, professors and mentors, there is nothing that appeals to me about my ‘home’ country. And my Spanish is not good enough to sustain academic work.
Anyway, my words won’t be heard by the anti folks, they’ll just say I’m whining and such. I let them believe what they want, I know that denying someone an education is wrong. See, I’m not even talking about in-state tution.
The following article is from the USA Today and it already has over 900 comments on it, which means that probably a large percentage of those comments are against people like me. And no, that is not the American public speaking, it is just the people with no lives, like me. Most of my pro-immigrant friends are out having fun and in summer school, they are after all, college students. So no, sorry, that is not a sample of the ‘ire’ of the American public. From the USA Today.
This summer, South Carolina became the first state to bar undocumented students from all public colleges and universities.
North Carolina’s community colleges in May ordered its 58 campuses to stop enrolling undocumented students after the state attorney general said admitting them may violate federal law.
“The new trend is to kick illegal aliens out of college altogether,” says William Gheen of Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee, which opposes taxpayer subsidies for undocumented immigrants.
Sorry William, you already subsidized my education from K to 12. Actually, from the 5th grade to 12. Shame on the Carolinas for taking the paths they chose. Shame on them. Also, if you are reading this blog and happen to know me, please tell me, am I scary?
