Legislators Attempting to Open Educational Doors for Undocumented US Residents

Education & Affordable Housing
Legislators Attempting to Open Educational Doors for Undocumented US Residents
By Melissa Correa
Apr 22, 2006, 21:45

Texas Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, believes no child should be left behind when it comes to education. Since 2001, Noriega’s House Bill 1403 has allowed Texas undocumented high school graduates to attend public colleges and universities. Undocumented students are now eligible for in-state tuition, grants and scholarships like the TEXAS grant and PELL grant.

Not all undocumented students are eligible for financial assistance from Texas. Strict criteria written in HB 1403 prohibits undocumented students from attending higher education with a criminal record. The only alternative these students have when it comes to paying rising tuition costs is to work—illegally, hoping the system will overlook the crime, and keep the student in college.

Tuition hikes are cause for worry among Texas college students. With a $13 billion cut of federal funds for higher education and a 40 percent increase in average tuition for Texas public universities within the past five school years, students now have to turn to loans and part-time jobs to pay for the college experience.

Lorenzo Cano, an advisor for the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Houston says he knows of many students stuck in the sticky situation. He says many students resort to working full-time while saving for college. He says many students end up enrolling in community colleges or technical schools because of the added expenses from Texas public universities year after year. Cano says, although it sounds like a great opportunity, in many cases it’s economically impractical.

Daniel Hernandez, an undocumented student attending the University of Houston through HB 1403, says he wouldn’t be at UH. Otherwise, instead, he’d be attending school in Mexico. Hernandez, is a mechanical engineering major and uses his TEXAS grant to pay for school. He and his family came to the United States in 1999 after his dad’s company closed. Hernandez was dead-set on attending college after high school.

“I started researching universities and I found out that Texas passed that law,” Hernandez says.
But the reality is, a vast majority of undocumented high schoolers don’t know HB 1403 exists—counselors, teachers and other school officials fail to mention the legislation.

David C. Johnston, college advisor for Lee High School in Houston, says it’s something educators need to become aware of. He says that in many instances, undocumented students get so far behind with school work and testing that by the time the students do learn of HB 1403, it’s too late. He says the solution is to educate the educators about HB 1403 and make it mandatory to speak to students about college their first year of high school.

“I think there is a general ignorance within the undocumented community,” Hernandez says. “There’s ignorance regarding the opportunities that there are. I mean, there’s a lot of people in high school that don’t know they can go to college if they are undocumented.”
It’s a campaign Rep. Noriega failed to rev up.

In recent months, legislation concerning undocumented immigrants has become a popular debate, especially on college campuses. One piece of legislation that has made its way to the public is D.R.E.A.M. Act 2005—legislation that eliminates the discouragement of states from providing in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants who have graduated from a public high school in the United States.

The D.R.E.A.M Act—development, relief and education for alien minors—was originally introduced in 2003. Kinks in the bill needed to be changed including the proposal of using federal aid to supplement an undocumented students higher education experience. In 2004, Sen. Richard Durbin, D-IL, joined with Sen. Richard Lugar, R-NV, and Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-NE, to write Senate Bill 2075 which is identical to the revision of the now D.R.E.A.M Act 2005.

The 2005 act would mandate states to charge all undocumented immigrant students who came to the U.S. more than five years before or were 15-years old or younger when they crossed the border in-state tuition. The undocumented student must be of good, moral character, apply for conditional status after high school and be a graduate of one of the particular state’s public high schools. Six years after the student applies for conditional status, the student may then apply for legal permanent residency if they complete one of the three requirements: graduate from a two-year college, complete two of the four years from a university or have served in the U.S. military for two years. If the student fails to meet the requirements within the six years, he/she is dropped from the program and is not eligible for permanent residency.