Nightmare of a Dream Student
By Roberto Dr.
Cintli Rodriguez
New America Media,
Commentary
TUCSON, Ariz. -- I’ll
refer to her as Leticia X.
She is undocumented, but
has been in this country since the age of three and is a top student at
her high school. Yet, unless the law changes soon, she will be unable to
continue with her studies. She tells my students at the University of
Arizona that it is wrong that she will not be able to attend college
next year: “I consider myself a U.S. citizen. It’s the only country I’ve
ever known.”
Her symbolic mother is
Leticia A -- a student who set the legal precedent in 1982 in Plyler v.
Doe in Texas, permitting undocumented students to be able to attend
public K-12 schools, without having to pay exorbitant out-of-state
tuition.
Today, Leticia X struggles
to change this policy to include K-16 students. If out-of-state fees are
exorbitant for out of state K-12 students, the rates are stratospheric
for out-of-state college students, generally costing tens of thousands
of dollars yearly.
Leticia X is part of a
nationwide movement – nearly a decade old – to pass legislation that
would permit students such as her, to be able to attend college at
in-state rates. It’s called the DREAM Act. A majority of members of
Congress support it, but since 2001, they’ve never been able to garner
the 60 votes necessary in the Senate to bring it to a full vote
(cloture). It even has a controversial provision that was injected into
it that would permit students to also qualify for U.S. residency by
first going into the military for two years. A terrible compromise, but
even that has not worked.
It pains me that I cannot
publicly identify Leticia X. The irony is that she, like many other
DREAM students do identify themselves in public. Apparently, they are
more trusting of government than I am.
You have to understand,
she was making her plea before my students in Arizona – the New South.
It’s also the Old South.
Last week, I took my
students to witness Operation Streamline, a Homeland Security program
that targets undocumented migrants in specific zones with immediate
prosecution and deportation. Nothing I told them could prepare them for
what they saw. Several left early, crying, unable to continue to witness
what passes for a judicial proceeding.
Here, at Tucson’s Federal
Court, there are daily tax-payer-funded show trials in which 70 to 80
defendants, undocumented migrants all, are convicted in one hour. It’s
the racial element and the shackles around the ankles, waist and hands
that shock the conscience.
In one hour, they are
tried, convicted and deported or sent to a private prison (Corrections
Corporation of America). It is the breakneck speed that profoundly
damages the human spirit and the integrity of the courtroom. As one of
my students commented: “They’re like cattle being led to the slaughter.”
But back to Leticia X. Her
story is gut wrenching. She is bright and articulate, and hard-working
to a fault. She studies even when she’s sick because she believes she
has earned the right to go to college. She is, figuratively, a dream
student.
If the law does not change
by December, she will not be attending a U.S. college next year.
It is difficult to imagine
why anyone would be opposed to seeing her go off to college. She knows
no other home and barely speaks Spanish.
The larger tragedy is that
her story is repeated 65,000 times every year nationwide. There would be
many more, but many drop out, not seeing the point of continuing to
attend high school. What I really want to do is call the National
Hispanic Scholarship Foundation and ask them why they are opposed to
creating a special fund to help the Leticia Xes of this nation. Nothing
in the law prevents them from doing so.
However, Leticia X is
undaunted and courageous. She tells me she has no problem with me using
her true name. I dare not expose her to the Joe Arpaios and Lou Dobbs of
the world.
President Barack Obama
promised a humane solution to the immigration crisis. Humane? Yes.
Leticia X is a full human being.
Rodriguez, an assistant
professor at the University of Arizona, can be reached at
XColumn@gmail.com
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