Dozens rally to support proposed immigration law
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BY MATTHEW HANSEN / Lincoln Journal Star
Oscar Rios Pohirieth dreads the conversation he's had again and again with some of Lincoln's Hispanic high school students.
They step into his office and ask how they can go to college.
If his first question -- "Do you have a green card?" -- is met with a no, the Lincoln Public Schools bilingual liaison must tell them that high school graduation may be the end of the line.
Pohirieth and about 35 others rallied at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on Wednesday afternoon to encourage federal lawmakers to pass pending legislation to make it easier for illegal immigrants to attend college.
Right now, the children of undocumented workers - children born before their parents moved here - have almost no chance to attend UNL, said Pohirieth, a 2003 UNL graduate, standing on the university's Union Plaza Wednesday.
"The fact that they don't hold that piece of paper - it means their dreams will be shattered."
Part of the 1998 federal immigration law all but bars public schools such as UNL from offering in-state tuition to illegal immigrant children.
High school graduates also can't receive federal scholarships or financial aid, no matter their grade point average or class rank.
The myriad college forms requiring a Social Security number make higher education virtually impossible even for undocumented immigrant children who have the money to attend school, said Ed Leahy of the Immigrant Rights Network of Nebraska-Iowa.
Enter a federal bill that supporters dub the DREAMAct, which calls for the children of undocumented workers to be allowed to work toward legal status by attending a college or university.
Powerful Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch introduced the bill in the Senate, and 51 other senators, including Nebraska's Chuck Hagel and Ben Nelson, have co-sponsored it. A similar bill in the House has more than 100 co-sponsors, including Nebraska Rep. Tom Osborne.
Broad bipartisan support makes Leahy and other immigrant advocates hopeful of the bill's eventual passage.
They're worried about its fate this year, though, as it is stuck in legislative gridlock in both houses.
Hence, the coast-to-coast effort in recent weeks to focus attention on the plight of illegal immigrant students. Supporters have fasted in Oregon, California, Maryland and Michigan and have held rallies such as the one in Lincoln across the country.
They say the children of illegal immigrants didn't make the choice to come to the United States and should have the choice to further their education after high school.
Approximately 650,000 children of undocumented immigrants graduate from U.S. high schools each year.
"They're literally penalized by the choices of their parents,"said Holly Burns, director of Lincoln's Hispanic Community Center. "That's mind-boggling to me."
Opponents argue the burden of higher education should be placed on the parents, not on the system.
"The issue is this is a reward for people who have broken the law,"Ira Mehlan, a spokesman for the Federation of American Immigration Reform, told The Associated Press last week.
Kyle Molina, president of UNL's Mexican American Student Association, thinks the issue goes beyond what people think of the country's immigration laws.
It's as simple as giving an 18-year old a chance, he said.
"It's good to know people support it," Molina said as the rally dispersed.
"They know it's the right thing to do."
Reach Matthew Hansen at 473-7245 or mhansen@journalstar.com.
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