Most college students don't know exactly what they'll do after graduation. But for some students, even a bachelor's degree doesn't mean they'll be able to work. Undocumented students like Lehman College freshman Marlen Fernandez pursue higher education hoping their circumstances will change.
Title: Dreams Dashed: A New York Immigrant's Story
Tags:
DREAM Act, Lehman College, immigration, undocumented students, New York, citizenship
Short Description:
Most college students don't know exactly what they'll do after graduation. But for some students, even a bachelor's degree doesn't mean they'll be able to work. Undocumented students like Lehman College freshman Marlen Fernandez pursue higher education hoping their circumstances will change.
Longer Description:
You can’t drive. You can’t work. You can’t get financial aid. At least not legally. That’s the reality for undocumented students in college. For almost ten years, advocates and politicians have been trying a pass the DREAM Act whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/12/01/get-facts-dream-act, a bill that would provide a pathway to citizenship to an estimated one million undocumented youth in the United States.
Marlen Fernandez came to the United States when she was just three years old. She has no memories of the small town in Mexico where she came from. Marlen’s family told her she was carried across a river on the shoulders of her uncle into Texas. All her childhood memories are in White Plains, New York.
In three years, Marlen will become the first member of her family to graduate from college. But without the DREAM Act, and without citizenship, she won’t be able to work in most jobs. A social security number stands between Marlen and higher-paying careers that require bachelor’s degrees. For now, Marlen has given up on her dream to become a nurse because working in a hospital requires a social security number she doesn’t have.
In the meantime, she’s fighting alongside nysylc.org/other students like her to push politicians to pass the DREAM Act. Marlen was hopeful when the DREAM Act passed the House in December but hope was quickly replaced by disappointment when it failed in the Senate by just five votes. Now that it has been reintroduced thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/senate-democrats-reintroduce-dream-act/, Marlen waits to see whether doors will open or again be slammed shut.
Transcript:
They just couldn’t believe it. They’re like there’s no way that you are undocumented. You speak perfect English. You don’t act like you’re Mexican at all. They were in disbelief. ‘You’re kidding, right?’ And I was like no, I’m being serious. I am undocumented.
It’s a common reaction. I hate to say that they have a stereotype.
I always had the hope that it would pass so I continued to study for my nursing major. I’ve wasted a whole year studying to become a nurse. Now I have to change my entire major. In a way I feel lost, and without direction.
Even when I major in something else, if the DREAM Act doesn’t pass, I’m not going to be able to work in whatever field that I have.
I know that I would be a great nurse. Now I have to sacrifice that. I think about all the other things I’ve had to give up because of the situation that I’m in. It’s just unfair, just because of a simple number.
Maybe someday I can always come back and get a second degree. Be the nurse that I couldn’t become during this time.
Behind the scenes:
In March, students across the country staged Coming Out of the Shadows rallies for undocumented students to share their stories. At Lehman College, Marlen first shared her immigration story publicly, one that she had only shared with close friends and family. That’s where I first met and interviewed Marlen. She said that even though it was scary to get up in front of a crowd of people and say ‘I am undocumented,’ she stopped living in fear of being deported that day. For the next year I will be following Marlen as she continues her studies and becomes a more vocal advocate for the DREAM Act and immigration reform. Watch for updates at meganizen.com.