By snoadmin
It’s difficult to imagine waking from a euphoric dream, only to find life has become a never-ending nightmare, isn’t it? Not really, if you consider the plight children of undocumented immigrants face getting into, paying for and attending a public university in this state.
Those youngsters were jolted into the realization that education suddenly applied a different set of rules to them than their former childhood classmates.
One of those students is possibly sitting next you in a classroom. It might even be someone who you once did time with on the playground.
Many (awakened from a dream developed while attending California’s public K-12 schools), have their eyes pried open by the nightmare of finding out they’re no longer considered human. They are forced to don labels like “illegal immigrant” and “illegal alien.”
AB 540 undocumented students, so named for a temporary law that allows them to attend California public universities without having to pay out-of-state tuitions and fees, tend to internalize their newly discovered “outcast” status.
That’s the social and educational policy conundrum that accompanies being an AB 540 student. Around 250 or more attend Cal State Long Beach, forced to wear a cloak of invisibility as they ply between classes and work.
In fact, approximately 25,000 undocumented high school students graduate annually in California and an estimated 65,000 graduate nationally each year, according to the Los Angeles Times.
They are not allowed to receive financial aid to help pay for their educations. Instead, most of them work two and three low-paying jobs to defray the rising costs of chasing their dreams.
AB 540 students must settle for menial, paid-under-the-table jobs because they can’t get social security numbers.
Without legal status, they aren’t allowed to get driver licenses, so must rely on friends, family or public transportation.
A twin pair of bills being nudged toward Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desk could alleviate the burden for AB 540 students by making them eligible for limited financial aid, as well as being able to vie for grants and scholarships.
Senate Bill 1301 and Assembly Bill 2083 have both cleared the majority hurdle in their respective spheres, but earning Schwarzenegger penmanship is another story. The Educ-Hater has already twice vetoed the California Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act.
Those who support the DREAM Act cite that state funds are excluded. Opponents counter that any public money is a hand-out that should be reserved for citizens.
It doesn’t matter if the California DREAM Act is as described by California State University Vice-Chancellor Karen Zamarripa as “the right thing to do.” Schwarzenegger holds AB 540 students as political hostages each time the Democrat-supported bill finds a spot under his nose.
Such stigma is placed on immigration these days that an inherent fear of detection and deportation looms in their daily lives.
The reason they prefer to be anonymous is that if singled out by immigration authorities, they can be arrested and face deportation, often to some place they have only vague awareness of, most likely from California textbooks. If sent back to their ancestral homeland, it can take anywhere from one to 10 years to return, if at all.
One CSULB AB 540 student, asking to remain unidentified, said, “It would truly be a dream come true if this law passes. I would be able to use my degree after graduation. Imagine going to school for so long and only having some menial job to look forward to for the rest of my life.”
This governor needs to stop attacking the vulnerable to solve his economic gaffes. These bills aren’t about politics-as-usual. They address human needs particular to friends we’ve grown up with.
Signing this humanitarian law would provide untold benefits to the state because a well-educated populace is an investment in the economy.
Most AB 540 students didn’t realize they were non-citizens until they grabbed the parchment at their high school graduations and had to jump through even more circles to enter college.
Passage would show that our society isn’t insensitive to the unique problems facing AB 540 students by helping make their dreams come true.
