Rally Backs Effort to Help Immigrant Students

A flock of balloons symbolizing the dreams of immigrant students was released Saturday in Santa Monica by supporters of legislation intended to aid the process of obtaining citizenship for thousands of such people nationwide.

The environmentally conscious, tethered release at Santa Monica High School was part of a coordinated effort by community organizations and civil rights groups across the country to kick off the National Week of Action for Immigrant Students.

Organizers said current law annually forces as many as 50,000 students, many brought to the United States from other countries by their parents, to put off their dreams of pursuing higher education because they are undocumented.

Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said many illegal immigrants can’t afford the steep out-of-state tuition and fees they are assessed, under federal law, in the same states where they graduated from high school.

She added that students’ undocumented status can be an obstacle to employment even if they finish college.

About 60 immigrant students attended the event, including 18-year old Julia, who gave only her first name.

Eager to repay the sacrifices of parents who brought her to the United States from Mexico when she was 3, Julia said she centered her life around academics and graduated near the top of her class at Belmont High School.

She thought her dreams had come true when acceptances from University of California campuses such as Berkeley, Riverside and Santa Cruz arrived.

But Julia’s plans changed when she learned of the $30,000 out-of-state tuition she was expected to pay.

Now attending Santa Monica College, where she is studying to become a high school history and government teacher, she said she is sometimes overwhelmed by frustration at her situation.

“Sometimes I want to quit,” she said. “Why study so hard to do well in college? Who’s going to give me a job?”

Two pieces of federal legislation are pending: the Student Adjustment Act and the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors -- or DREAM Act -- that would grant children of immigrants who have lived a significant part of their lives in the United States the opportunity to obtain legal status.

The DREAM Act would grant residency status to immigrants “of good moral character” between the ages of 12 and 21 who have lived in the United States for at least five years and to high school graduates under age 25 who are enrolled in a college or university.

The Student Adjustment Act would grant residency to students “of good moral character” enrolled in seventh grade or above who have lived in the country for at least five years.

Since last year, California law has given some undocumented students eligibility for in-state tuition rates at many public colleges.