Plenty of CA kids are getting shifted to UCR and Merced- or not getting into a UC- because the competition is so huge, n the first place. There are few guarantees. 200,000+ apps to the UC system. 90k+ to UCLA.
From a UCLA report, " the Federal Government’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals…provides temporary lawful presence for undocumented youth and young adults…" Temporary, but note, “lawful.”
“Once a qualifying student graduates from a U.S. high school, he or she would be allowed to apply for conditional status that would authorize up to six years of legal residence. During this time period, the student would be required to graduate from a two-year college, complete at least two years toward a four-year degree, or serve in the United States military for at least two years. Permanent residence would be granted at the end of the six-year period if the student has met these requirements and has continued to maintain good moral character.”
All this didn’t just fall out of the sky one day and suddenly CA kids and all those who dreamed of Yale since kindergarten are summarily shut out. You can read more about all this, try to understand the context. You can protest it, in ways that might lead to change. But just heaping on seems like venting, to me.
Oh…my…pages and pages and pages of legal documents, medical reports, notarized statements from sponsors who agreed to accept financial responsibility. Oh…and… statements vouching for character from religious organization and employers in the home country…oh and…statements of qualifications to work.
All of these are in my LEGAL immigrant parents’ historical document files. And the stories of the folks with whom they formed bonds of friendship once the LEGALLY entered the US are similar. Reams of paperwork with multiple levels of authorization, check and re-checks.
I have most of these in sheet protectors and they fill a rather large binder.
@oldfort You’re mistaken that illegal immigrants don’t pay taxes. Indeed, they often get fake SSANs and work for employers who turn a blind eye. The employers withhold the taxes – accredited to the fake SSAN. No one is ever able to claim those monies. Thus, the undocumented see a significant portion of their wage taken (and goes into the larger Soc Security pot — to be drawn upon one day by you and me). Of course, there are many cash-only jobs too. But you asked how taxes are paid. They clearly are – and since the people are on such tenuous legal standing, they won’t dare try to fight it. So out of their paychecks go Soc Security, Medicare, unemployment, state taxes, etc. And they can’t ever make a claim on much of it.
Also you mentioned whether these high profile cases would increase attempts at coming into the USA. What’s the demographic of individuals and families who risk coming into the USA?
Is it the bookeeper who is wondering if she’s saved enough for her bright son to go to a local Mexican university? She hears about the Yale admittee so sells everything and risks the treacherous journey into the USA so MAYBE her son might get a US college education?
Or is it the rural farmer’s fifth son and his teen-aged wife, who see no economic opportunity around them who decide to ask the family to hock everything to pay a mule to smuggle them into the USA where their dream is to get a $8/hr job scrubbing toilets or cleaning and processing chicken for 60 hours a week so they can send a few dollars home? Yeah they might have a kid or birth a child in the USA. But the idea of someday getting their kid a freer college education to Yale or UT is as realistic as going to Mars.
@T26E4 - what’s the percentage of those illegal immigrants work for those employers or are most of them work ingat cash-only jobs or as independent contractors who do not pay taxes. I see government is really cracking down on employers hiring people who are not eligible to work. If the employers withhold the taxes without real SSANs then isn’t that a red flag to the government? How many employers are willing to have such red flag and potentially getting audited by the IRS?
OP: the issue of students submitting financial paperwork or not isn’t an issue. Why? Because over time, I’m sure many kids who are admitted to Yale have had similar situations where their parents did not have documentation (such as being an undocumented immigrant, divorce, refugee status, imprisonment). The Yale fin aid people would work closely with the school to verify the family background of the student and act accordingly and waive requirements that would be otherwise expected of the “typical” applicant family. Is that wrong? No, it’s practical – whether it’s an undocumented family or a kid whose dad is an imprisoned mobster or whose mom divorced 4 years ago and is a recluse and no longer files taxes.
The conversation would go like this: “John here comes from a crazy background. There will not be any financial docs coming but clearly the EFC will be zero. Here’s the statement I have from his counselor, principal and social worker. His parents status is A, B and C and it won’t be changing in the near future. How do we get this kid to our campus financially?” Now granted, the number of schools with the financial resources to do this can probably be counted on one hand of a sawmill accident survivor – but it does happen. For Yale, it clearly happens.
Perhaps there is a difference: 1) Cal and UCLA may register ~500* such students each year, vs. thousands from OOS; 2) these students have to have been a state ‘resident’, which means paying taxes for at least three years. Many of them even attended kindergarten school in California.
*estimate since UC claims not to know/track. (Incredulous on its face since many/most are on (special) FinAid since they are ineligible for federal aid, but such obfuscation by UC is typical and increases the “anger” on other issues.)
"Oh…my…pages and pages and pages of legal documents, medical reports, notarized statements from sponsors who agreed to accept financial responsibility. Oh…and… statements vouching for "
My ancestors came in through Ellis Island with none of the above. There wasn’t such a thing as legal or illegal immigration in those days. You just came in, and called yourself whatever name you wanted. (No, no xenophobic immigration officer changed your grandfather’s name from Spudrhxgrsvjtdski to Smith. He did that himself. No matter what grandma claims.)
I think it’s a really good point that these kids are going to end up funding our Social Security payments. We should all be rooting for them to be as successful as possible.
There were some requirements at Ellis, but the point is, we sit here all polished and sure, sometimes looking down on others. And our own ancestors may have had a not entirely legit document or answer. They may have done all sorts of things to get in and survive.
I appreciate those who work hard. And how so many immigrants encourage their kids to strive and accomplish.
@ Curiosa sure let’s root for those kids, and we should root for the parents of those kids too but the parents are in the US illegally and should not be allowed to stay after the kids reach a certain age…
I wonder how it technically works. Is the fact that they live in the States and graduate from a US HS something that negates the need for the student visa or college? If a kid was documented on a temp visa, graduated from HS here, wouldn’t they be considered international? Or does the SSN negate that? Just curious why the colleges see these kids different from those here on temp documentation. if folks in the know might know.
“In the early 20th century, there were no gov’t benefits for LEGAL immigrants, so it was irrelevant if i’s were dotted and t’s were crossed.”
So you’d be ok with people coming in as long as they didn’t get government benefits? If not, then it sounds like those dots and crosses matter.
Re Ellis Island, that’s how European immigrants came in. There were totally different rules and limitations on other groups, notably Asians. There certainly was legal and illegal immigration in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
I’m not sure what this means. After decades of near decay and complete disregard for the quality of academic resources in some SUNY units-including university centers, some SUNYs are now building and expanding-just when the college attending population of NY is declining. What is that about? Had there been interest in meeting the needs of NY residents all along, I’d understand. But the push to expand (say, the motto "20 by 20 meaning that a center wants to have 20K students enrolled by 2020 (up from about 10K a dozen years ago) at a time when the college attending population of NY is dwindling is perplexing-especially the fact that they are not adding necessary academic resources such as staff and faculty. NY residents, whose families have paid taxes for decades to feed the system, are turned away from the more competitive centers, and instead international students fill their seats. It is outrageous. And to me, the rejection of NY tax payers whose money funds the school in favor of wealthy internationals who have paid zero on taxes is a far bigger concern but one which is virtually ignored while people focus on US resident’s document status. Very odd.
Off course NY is known for its corruption as is the Research Foundation of SUNY so that may factor in some how.
Add ons bc they don’t take spaces from US kids. Does it cause overcrowding? The bills have to be paid. Taxes are high enough in NY. It is a way for them to get more revenue to survive.
As an immigrant I feel those who’ve been here for generations should have preferences over me and my US born kids. I’m grateful we are given equal rights BTW. Why? It takes generations of hard work for this country to be what it is today. Foreigners come to US for school should pay out of country (OOC) tuition. If a private school thinks it can do whatever it wants try move to another county and see if it still is what it is.
If the undocumented workers contribute to SS and pay federal taxes, don’t they also get many benefits of living in the US (free education k-12, anchor baby benefits, emergency healthcare, etc.)? Is it a net gain or loss to the US to allow these undocumented workers to stay here?
“Why are illegal immigrants admitted(with scholarships) to US colleges ?” - because they have “premium” type of benefits in all aspects, not only in regard to colleges. They have better health benefits than our veterans, and this is by far much more important than college acceptances as we are talking about life and death situations in regard to those who were ready to put their lives at risk defending our country. College acceptance is nothing in comparison to that.