But who are the students who would be affected?\u00a0 The numbers of students in this situation are enormous; 65,000 undocumented students graduate every year and 37,000 are Latino (Drachman 2006: 94). Many of these students have lived here all their lives, and some are valedictorians.\u00a0 Many are high achieving individuals who participate in community service in their spare time.\u00a0 One student rushed to help the Red Cross in the time of Hurricane Katrina (Perez, et. al 2010:45).<\/p>\n
Yet we do not allow these students to pay in-state tuition to public colleges in their own state, or receive financial aid, making college education impossible for many. This is the case even though the students have not done anything to deserve these blockades.\u00a0 One student says, \u201cWe\u2019re not criminals, or we\u2019re not trying to steal anything from anybody. It\u2019s just that we want to continue the dream that our parents started when they brought us here for a better future\u201d (Perez, et. al 2010:38).\u00a0 Instead of continuing their education successfully, they are suffering from extreme discrimination and a sense of shame.<\/span><\/p>\n Americans have to decide if the fundamental right to education we granted in 1982 applies to higher education.\u00a0 As it stands, these undocumented kids are a wasted investment in today\u2019s economy.\u00a0 We not only allow them to participate, but we require them to go to public school.\u00a0 We invest taxpayer dollars to give them not only a seat in a classroom, but a fighting chance with programs like ESL.\u00a0 Then, just before we can see our investment grow and feed back into the community, we cut off all resources and suffocate all potential for any return.<\/p>\n Today, college education is as essential for job opportunity as literacy was in the past.\u00a0 College is the literacy of today.\u00a0 Studies show that a college education affects many aspects of life the way literacy once did; college graduates are more civically engaged and even more likely to vote.\u00a0 Public education is supposed to be the ultimate enforcer of everyone\u2019s equal chance at the American Dream, but as it stands, we have left out a caste of people.\u00a0 Let\u2019s modernize a decision that we have already agreed on; let\u2019s allow undocumented students the right to give back to this country.<\/p>\n Visit the New York State Youth Leadership Council<\/a> to learn more about who these students are and how you can help!<\/p>\n Works Cited:<\/p>\n Drachman, Edward. 2006. \u201cAccess to Higher Education for Undocumented Students\u201d Peace Review 18:1, 91-100.<\/p>\n P\u00e9rez, William, Richard D. Cort\u00e9s, Karina Ramos and Heidi Coronado. 2010. \u201cCursed and Blessed\u201d: Examining the Socioemotional and Academic Experiences of Undocumented Latina and Latino College Students.\u201d New Directions for Student Services 131:35-51. doi: 10.1002\/ss.366.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Each year, thousands of undocumented young children are brought to America by their parents.\u00a0 They are raised here, and as Obama stated in the 2012 State of the Union Speech, \u201cThey are American through and through.\u201d\u00a0 These kids did not … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/children-of-immigration\/files\/2012\/05\/no_human_being_is_illegal-252x300.jpg\")
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