I was 7, and it was my first day of school in America. The kids tightly surrounded me with their benevolent faces, all chattering to me at once.
I didn’t speak a lick of English, though, and out of sheer terror I began to cry, wondering, “Why am I here in America?”
Like many other immigrants, my parents ““ and eventually I myself
““ realized America’s incredible asset: access to education.
And with education’s growing significance worldwide, its ties to American immigration are becoming more apparent.
Two weeks ago, a court decision overturned the deportation of undocumented immigrants Benjamin and Londy Cabrera, arguing that it would hinder the educational opportunities of their American-born, exceptionally gifted daughter.
This case not only spurs the immigration debate, but more importantly, it illuminates the precarious quandaries that children of undocumented immigrants face.
Current immigration laws pertaining to these children are contradictory. If the children are undocumented, they are granted public education from K-12, but have little means of continuing on to postsecondary education. Or, if they were born here and are citizens, they must live with the uncertainty that their non-citizen family members may be deported.
Though California is one of 10 states granting in-state tuition to non-residents that attend and graduate from a California high school (including undocumented immigrants), many students are still unable to attend college due to obstacles related to financial aid and residence status.
Many eagerly await the enactment of such laws as the DREAM Act, which would award legal residence to undocumented, but U.S.-raised, immigrants with a clean record, and who are either college- or military-bound.
That’s not where it ends though; some immigrant families also face the possibility of splitting.
A student and his family can be currently undocumented, but his brother can be a U.S. citizen due to the 14th Amendment guaranteeing U.S. citizenship to anyone born in the U.S.
As a result, “mixtures of documentation levels in the family ““ visa, undocumented, citizen” are “very common,” said Fabiola Inzunza, third-year international development studies student and member of Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success, an immigrant-student awareness group.
Some sort of removal procedure, such as deportation, is therefore often pending in families, adding to the anxiety.
Susan Melgarejo, a fourth-year applied math and applied sciences student and IDEAS co-chairwoman, told me about her friend who graduated from UCLA with the intention of becoming a teacher after going to graduate school.
However, since he and his parents are undocumented, they were appealing deportation, and his sister, an honors student and a U.S. citizen, may have to give up her college dreams to move back with her family in case of deportation, because splitting up would be unthinkable.
These are unfortunate situations, but you may be asking why am I advocating these students. Why should we reward them for their parents’ decisions? Isn’t it unfair to those who immigrate legally?
Think of it this way: The issue here isn’t illegal immigration itself or whether the kids are being punished or rewarded for their parents’ actions.
The problem is that the laws pertaining to the children of undocumented immigrants don’t logically connect to one another.
The 14th Amendment also continues to brew debate without end.
How do we alleviate the recurring threat of families splitting due to varying degrees of residence status? Is the 14th Amendment outdated or misinterpreted?
Whatever the causes of the above conundrums are, laws can be shaped to solve the rising issues specific to undocumented immigrants’ children’s puzzling legal positions.
For one, some parts of the U.S. economy rely heavily on immigrant labor forces, especially in agriculture. The consequences of crop freeze in the California town of Lindsay has even led Mayor Ed Murray to comment, “Regardless of whether they’re legal or illegal, it’s imperative that we have workers here for next year’s harvest” .
Since the U.S. can benefit from immigrants’ services, and immigrants’ desire privileges associated with legal residence status, both can gain from each other with the creation of laws that compensate immigrants in exchange for supporting the needs of the country. The problem of teacher shortage can be addressed by allowing assimilated, undocumented students volunteer teach for a couple of years to obtain federal financial aid for college.
I’m not supporting illegal immigration. However, it seems that if the country can benefit from immigrants ““ especially those assimilated in the U.S., such as the children of undocumented immigrants ““ providing privileges in return isn’t far from logic.
And when I reflect back to my first day of school, I feel almost unjustified in my crying. Sure, I was little, couldn’t understand or say anything, and scared as heck. But I don’t think it can ever be as scary as being governed by laws perpetuating perplexing, inefficient paths to life and education in America.
Share your first-day-of-school woes with Yoo at jyoo@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.