Standing in Solidarity

By Anna Alicia Chavez

Currently there are 1.5 million foreign-born youth living in the U.S. without legal documentation. These youth have grown up in neighborhoods across the U.S. and attended U.S. elementary and secondary schools. Many of them even graduate from high school with honors. Due to their legal status as undocumented immigrants, however, they do not have easy access to higher education.

Many states prohibit undocumented students from attending college or university. Other states force them to pay out-of-state tuition even when they meet and exceed all the requirements for in-state tuition. They cannot vote, drive, or work. In addition, in the present hostile climate toward immigration, they most often live in constant fear of apprehension by authorities and deportation.

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