<p>Still haven’t heard a good explanation about what we plan to tell visa applicants who have followed the law.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the distinction between illegal Asian students and (presumably) illegal Latino students. Working in a sweatshop or Chinese restaurant doesn’t make a parent any more or less eligible for legal status than doing yardwork, picking up work in the Home Depot parking lot, or harvesting crops. The children of both groups who weren’t born here are the same amount of illegal.</p>
<p>Perhaps illegal Hispanics (URM) are worth more in college admissions than illegal Asians (ORM). Harvard got to check that box. So I’m wondering if the bar was lowered for Dario Guerrero (lower SAT/ACT scores) because he is Hispanic.</p>
<p>Do you think a undocumented Chinese student whose parents sewed backpacks, and who herself did piecework at home to supplement the family’s meager income while excelling in school, would be any less attractive to Harvard than the Latino kid? Seems to me top schools would love that girl. Both the poor striving Chinese girl and the poor striving Latino boy would be a lot more attractive to Harvard than yet another kid from a rich suburb whose parents were professionals.</p>
<p>Wait, are you guys saying that illegal immigrant applicants get put into their own pool, so an illegal immgrant Asian doesn’t compete against legal Asian - Americans or even against international Asians? Well, that sounds fair. 8-| </p>
<p>I know very poor Chinese kids (not sure about immigration status, whether they were born here or not) who got into Ivies with free rides this year. </p>
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<p>More sour grapes. There was zero in the article about Dario Guerrero’s stats.</p>
<p>Right about the zero information about his stats. And you bet if he’d been a competitive applicant without his huge (undeserved) hook(s), he would have been trumpeting them! </p>
<p>Dario’s plight s irrelevant now. Someone in his same position would now have the option of attending UC Berkeley et al. for free, just like legal CA residents. The UCs set aside $5 million specifically to cover the missing federal piece of the financial aid package for illegal immigrants.</p>
<p>CTTC, that is a gigantic assumption completely unsupported by the information in the story.</p>
<p>In your eyes, maybe, but then it’s obvious from your other posts that the poor dear illegals deserve all the good they can grab (despite the parental lawbreaking). Others of us don’t feel that way. </p>
<p>Fact is, student in article had what Harvard was looking for and they accepted him. </p>
<p>As it relates to Med School, yes, only 50% of who applies get accepted. The UCSF undocumented kid was obviously one of the equally qualified 50% who was accepted, it happens that he is undocumented. </p>
<p>I wonder how many of us will refuse the assistance of an undocumented physician when we need immediate and critical care.</p>
<p>The UCSF student cannot get a medical license in California, unless the law changes. So that is one valuable medical spot that will not be yielding a doctor. There are thousands of American citizen students who do not get accepted to medical school who are very qualified. There is no reason that those who broke the law to get here should be accepted over one of them. </p>
<p>And as for those who do the right thing, apply for legal entry, pay thousands for the process, get lawyers to help them, etc. etc. The government’s policies are basically telling them they are chumps.</p>
<p>There is no way, absolutely no way, for a person without professional skills desired by a company or a spouse or parent who is a U.S. citizen to get on the queue for legal entry. So what is the high school student who just found out that s/he is undocumented supposed to do after living his/her life in the U.S. with no ties to his/her country of birth?</p>
<p>What would you say that the country of birth owes to the young person? What would you say that the taxpayers of the US are owed by the young person?</p>
<p>I don’t begrudge this bright student (taking engineering classes in high school) from achieving his dreams. I don’t think the student is at fault for something his parents did, or for trying to pursue a good education.</p>
<p>I’m concerned about the lack of consequences for breaking the law. It it worrisome that he was able to board a plane without some sort of official ID. How can his parents file taxes if they are here illegally? Would this not tip off the US that they are here? How does Harvard get to be beyond the law?</p>
<p>I also think this is a slap in the face for the families who went through the process of immigrating here legally.</p>
<p>Oldmom, I have got a feeling that organizations such as Catholic Charities does a lot of work trying to secure legal status for undocumented immigrants. My guess is that they have had some success.</p>
<p>Kids routinely suffer the consequences of their parents actions. That’s not some awful new development or particularly unique to immigration status. </p>
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<p>Start exploring Mexico! Really, every time I hear this line of argument, I can’t help but roll my eyes. Have you ever been to Mexico, oldmom? Its a very nice country with lots of natural resources and potential (14th largest economy in the world, I believe). A top tourist destination. We are living in the 21st century, and Dario is from CA where everything is also provided in Spanish and Mexican food is top popular, for goodness sake. Its not like he would have to go live on Mars.</p>
<p>oldmom: What would you tell the straight A, high MCAT student with great ECs, research, etc. who was rejected by UCSF so that a spot could be given to an illegal immigrant? What, just tough?</p>
<p>As I said, I’ve worked with the immigrant community for many years and am deeply committed to helping as many as possible achieve literacy. That being said, I am always bothered by the misinformation spread by the press and conventional wisdom on this issue. It really did used to be the case that most of the people who crossed my path were adults who wanted to work hard and make a better life. They were serious people who did whatever they could to earn money, gain some education and get on their feet. That is much less the case now. In addition to the people coming across my path (and there is something of a network across the country of people who deal with immigrants) are less likely to speak Spanish and have no history of literacy in any language. That is an almost-insurmountable obstacle. Additionally, they are ANGRY. They feel that they have been pushed out of their home country because they are undesirable and that the US owes them all sorts of things based on past abuse.</p>