Cindy, a University of Chicago senior, has never been on a plane or driven a car. She’s 21, but without a state-issued ID, she’s never been inside a bar.
Her family illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border when she was 3. Today, Cindy, who asked for her last name to be withheld due to her immigration status, is attending college on a merit-based full scholarship.
But her ordeal is far from over. When she graduates this year, her hard-earned diploma will be essentially rendered useless.
“I’m graduating, but there’s really nothing I can do with a college degree,,” Cindy said. “That’s something that’s very difficult to deal with right now.”
This is the reality for most illegal immigrant college graduates. The Urban Institute estimates that 65,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools annually. By most estimates, only 5 to 10 percent go on to college. Of the few illegal immigrants who overcome financial hurdles and graduate from American colleges, few can obtain jobs, creating a small pool of unemployed illegal immigrants with college degrees – a minority within a minority.
Applying for a job without legal status requires asking potential employers to sponsor them in obtaining American citizenship, a major hoop most employers are unlikely to jump through for job candidates.
Though some are successful in entrepreneurial fields or jobs that pay off the books, most undocumented college graduates are ineligible for many professional careers.
“They grow up in America, where they’re taught to dream high and work hard to succeed in a meritocracy,” said Roberto G. Gonzales, a prominent DREAM Act activist. “But at the end of the day, those doors stop opening.”
It’s almost impossible to help illegal immigrant students, mainly because their population is so hard to identify. For this reason, undocumented high school students are more likely to fall through the cracks when it comes to applying to colleges.
“There certainly are students who are ‘out,’ but the vast majority are not out,” Gonzales said. “They fear hate crimes, they fear backlash by immigration authorities, they fear the stigma of being undocumented.”
Northwestern students calling for an immigration policy reform at the University level are joining their counterparts across the U.S., many protesting under the slogan “undocumented and unafraid.”
The protesters have latched on to the DREAM Act as a symbol of hope.
“It would give (young people) permission to live and work in the U.S. without living in fear every day of being deported,” Cindy said. “This is a piece of legislation that would really benefit our community.”
