Fighting for Education, Working for My Dream

Editor’s Note: The Daily Californian does not publish unsigned letters or op-eds, unless the author would feel threatened if his or her identity was revealed.

I am one of the undocumented UC Berkeley students that Chancellor Birgeneau referred to as “our students” in an op-ed he published in the Los Angeles Times on July 7, 2007 in support of a higher education for undocumented students. In the article the Chancellor acknowledged the waste of talent and resources that resulted from denying undocumented students financial resources and consequently access to a higher education. Furthermore, he urged Congress to move forward the passage of the DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act, which provides student loans and work study, and a “thoughtfully mapped-out path to citizenship for qualified students.”

On behalf of myself and Rising Immigrant Scholars through Education (R.I.S.E), a student support group for immigrant students on campus, we commend his leadership and public support and hope that other educational leaders including our congressional representatives, our very own Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the UC Regents and others from California State universities and California community colleges can do the same. Such leadership will set the standard for all educational leaders to follow because immigrant youth are essential to California’s future and economy.

To say the least, these types of resources would be crucial locally here on campus but also at a national level where federal bills such as the DREAM Act would begin to address the tragedy of young people who grew up in the United States and have graduated from our high schools, but whose future is dictated by our current immigration laws. Under current law, there are very few mechanisms, if any, for students such as myself who were brought here as children to legalize our immigration status and obtain a college degree. The few dozens of students that do graduate from college will generally have to settle for menial employment since our immigration status is derived solely from our parents even if we have lived most of our lives here, speak English fluently and have excelled in school.

My dream is to become an architect once I complete one last class at UC Berkeley, but since January the three architecture firms that offered me a job could not hire me due to my circumstances. It is heartbreaking to know that all my dreams and hopes in the past five years, after all the research papers, finals, design projects and sleepless nights in Wurster Hall I will have to settle down for data entry and clerical tasks despite receiving an education from one of the best universities in the nation.

What I would like to do with my education is to contribute to my community by designing affordable and sustainable environments that provide a better quality of life for those with often the least opportunities. I want to address the quality of life afforded to the urban poor, especially among communities of color, because poverty should not dictate whether students receive a quality education or whether families live in substandard housing.

But even while I cannot exercise my prospective career at the moment I have not lost hope because R.I.S.E and other students across the state are taking an active role in leading the nation to bring attention to the plight of undocumented students. For this reason and in light of the Senate’s failure to move forward a viable immigration reform, R.I.S.E. and the California DREAM network—composed of over 26 college immigrant student groups—organized a fast in San Francisco from July 2 to July 9, 2007. The fast was aimed at urging congressional representatives, specifically Speaker Nancy Pelosi to rally her party to pass a bill that includes a legalization with a path to citizenship for thousands of undocumented students. Over 24 students including UC Berkeley students from R.I.S.E, were willing to sacrifice their health and need for nourishment as a symbol of the urgency for immigration reform and the DREAM Act.

It is really important that we all support the DREAM Act because the current law hurts all of us, not just students whose future is restricted. The US economy suffers when a significant number of extraordinary students in our communities are prevented from completing their education and reaching their full potential. We suffer because we are deprived of future contributors and leaders who will help to stimulate economic growth and social richness. We suffer because children who might have been scientists, nurses, teachers, architects or engineers are forced instead to settle for menial employment. If enacted, the DREAM Act would have a life-changing impact both on the average American and the students who qualify by paving the way for contributions to the U.S. economy and a brighter educated workforce.

Similarly, R.I.S.E would also like to urge the Chancellor to continue his commitment to an accessible and affordable higher education for all students by taking a step further and creating a private scholarship fund similar to what public universities do to help needy but overachieving students fund their education. This has an advantage because private donations are not regulated by the same residency restrictions and can be used at the university’s discretion.

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