Beatriz Carrillo: Praying to God
College is becoming increasingly difficult to pay and for Latino students with undocumented family it is becoming almost impossible. A student Rosa* comments that having undocumented family members has affected her dramatically, especially financially. Rosa discusses since some family living in her family do not have social security numbers, her mother cannot claim them and “claiming that three people live in your household the government thinks you’re rich! But it’s harder when you have so many people living with you and can’t be claimed!�
Because the government believes her family is financially well off, Rosa does not receive the proper financial aid to cover her tuition and living costs on her campus. This is not just affecting one student this is an epidemic. Bright, Latino students are being denied an education because of foolish laws that criminalize undocumented workers; many of these students were born in the United States and are supposed to have the same rights and access to facilities than other citizens, but instead, the system is failing them. The criminalization of undocumented workers forces families to lie innocently, not knowing that this will affect their child’s chances of attending school. Maria* who has gone through a similar situation explains, “my parents don’t understand the financial aid stuff very well, but they understand enough. They cried too when I told them that I may have to drop out of school because my financial aid wouldn’t go through.�
These students are placed in a position where they never know if they will have enough for the next semester, or even the next week. Maria says, “They wouldn’t give me financial aid until I gave them a social security number of my parent. I couldn’t give it to them they didn’t have it! It was the worst month of my life trying to find a way. I think I cried just about every single day and night.�
These students have not committed a crime; on the contrary, they are model citizens and human beings. Their financial situation has kept them motivated to apply for scholarships, work as much as possible and all this while attempting to get their education. Rosa tells her story on how she “was stressed out, working 30 hours a week and trying to succeed academically.� It takes a lot of determination and maturity to handle this situation and although it is not impossible to do, it is much too stressful for an 18 year old to experience.
The barriers and laws against undocumented people are outdated and causing innocent, intelligent students with a bright future to panic and many times fail. These students should not be punished these laws are not just against undocumented workers they are against Latinos, even citizens. We cannot continue to allow these students to suffer and cry themselves to sleep. Unfortunately, for now, Rosa is just “praying to God for a miracle.�
*These are aliases and not their real names