HEADLINES
ARTS
NEIGHBORHOODS
VOICES
GENERATION i
SPEAKERS
ABOUT
NYU

 

 

Foreign-born students seek the American dream
by Megan Stride

 

Rajiv Harjani came to the United States for college because he knew it was the ultimate opportunity.

“U.S. higher education is considered the best in the world,” he said. “You can study what you want here. You can’t find such diverse fields in other countries.”

Harjani, who left his native Dubai in 2002 and graduated from New York University’s Stern School of Business last spring, came here on a student visa, which he maintained throughout his stay. He said that schools in America simply offered more than anywhere else.

“This is the land of opportunity,” he said.

For many undocumented immigrants who have lived here much longer than Harjani, however, this isn’t the case.

A bill aimed to give legal status to these aspiring students failed to come to a vote in the Senate last Wednesday, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he wants to see it pass by mid-November.

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, was first introduced to Congress in 2001. In its current incarnation, it would allow undocumented immigrants who fulfill a certain criteria to gain temporary legal status for six years, two years of which must be spent either in higher education or serving in the U.S. military. If accepted, these students would be able to apply for work study programs and student loans but the legislation would not give them access to federally-funded Pell grants.

To qualify, the applicant would need to have a GED or U.S. high school diploma, be less than 30 years of age and arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16, lived here for five consecutive years and not have a criminal record.

By fulfilling the program requirements within the six-year period, the student would be granted a permanent resident green card and could apply for U.S. citizenship.

Currently, undocumented immigrants are able to apply to public universities, thanks to the 1982 Supreme Court decision Plyer v. Doe, which ruled that students could not be denied public education based on their immigration status.

But the absence of case law on the subject of private institutions like NYU has left the situation murky. The solution for most private universities has been to turn a blind eye to immigration status and focus on academic status instead, said David Austell, director of the Office of International Student Services at New York University.

“I think it’s safe to say that there are likely to be illegal students in most institutions in the U.S.,” Austell said. “The population is so huge, the needs are so great, the laws are so gray, that institutions typically don’t touch the issue of illegal students.”

New York City had more than 2.9 million foreign-born residents at the time of its most recent census in 2000. Several local groups say this makes the legislation particularly relevant in New York and are working to garner support for a bill that they see as an urgent need.

The New York State Youth Leadership Council is a group created by immigrant students to advocate for the DREAM Act. The Council urges people to sign petitions to support the bill and send them to their Congressional representatives.

Jaqueline Cinto, a student at City College and a member of the Council, said that education is the group’s main tool in the effort to get the bill passed.

“More people are learning about the DREAM Act,” Cinto said. “We sign up at any community event that is available to us and we go.”

The Council also works with other groups from neighborhoods all over the city, including a nun convocation on the Lower East Side and another immigration group in Flushing, Queens, Cinto said.

Opposition to the DREAM Act has been as fierce as the efforts of its proponents. On its website, the anti-immigration group Numbers USA refers to the act as an “amnesty bill” which will “draw more illegal aliens here in the future to apply for amnesty.” Cinto said this was not the case, as only people who fit the act’s specific criteria can apply for its benefits.

The military service component of the bill has also raised questions.

“People think that we are somehow advocating the war in Iraq because of the military provision, but the act says they can decide to go to the military or go to college,” Cinto said. “That’s why we try to go out and advocate what the act is really about and educate people.”

Harjani said he had a great experience at NYU and that he supports the bill because other people should have the same opportunity.

“You can’t really do much without higher education in this country,” he said. “Even though these kids come in undocumented, I say give them a chance. They could become people who add value to the country, becoming scientists or engineers.”

Austell also supports the effort and recently signed the Council’s petition for the DREAM Act. However, he doesn’t think it will pass because it is too controversial.

“The issue is complex and heartbreaking because you’re dealing with individual human beings,” Austell said. “These are very talented students who have everything going for them, and they’re backed into a corner they can’t get out of.”