During a typical week, Douglass College senior Marisol Conde-Hernandez balances 50-60 hours working as a waitress with six credits of classes — and the possibility of being deported due to her undocumented immigrant status.
Conde-Hernandez said she advocates for granting in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants because she thinks these kinds of students will be able to achieve more when they graduate.
“Education has been the most important factor in my upbringing and in me being who I am,” said Conde-Hernandez, who has been paying her out-of-state tuition term bills by working. “What’s great about Rutgers is that it’s pretty much all I’ve ever wanted in education. I always knew I wanted to go to college.”
The possibility of in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants has come into sight with the state bill S.1036, introduced in the 2008-2009 legislative session.
Dubbed the “In-State Tuition Bill,” the legislation only exempts undocumented students from paying out-of-state tuition if they prove at least three years of continuous residency in the state before graduating from a New Jersey high school, according to the bill.
Students must also file an affidavit with the University stating they will file an application to legalize their immigration status as soon as they are eligible to do so, according to the bill.
It does not offer any preferential spots at any state university, nor does it make the undocumented students eligible for any financial assistance.
Ten states, including Texas, California and New York, have passed legislation to allow undocumented immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition at public colleges upon meeting certain criteria, according to the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
Any bill granting in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants will not go into effect without the governor’s signature.
Gov. Jon S. Corzine mobilized the Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Immigrant Policy in 2007 to study immigration matters. In April 2009, the panel stated unanimous support for in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants, according to a report released by the state Department of the Public Advocate.
Corzine supported the findings of the report, according to an NJ.com article.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie does not support the measure, stating that lawful taxpayers subsidize in-state institutions and are the only ones who deserve a tuition break, according to Philly.com.
Tom Johnson, the spokesman for Independent candidate Chris Daggett, declined discussing Daggett’s stance on present legislation.
“Chris does not believe in punishing the children of illegal immigrants for their situation,” Johnson said.
Director of University Media Relations Sandra Lanman said the University would continue to follow state law on this issue.
Conde-Hernandez dismissed the argument that undocumented immigrants displace citizens during the admissions process.
“Rutgers accepted me for a reason because I excel in school, I do well and I’m a positive member of the community,” she said. “My application doesn’t list me as this poor, undocumented Mexican immigrant.”
She and her mother left Puebla, Mexico, in 1988 and entered the United States as undocumented immigrants. Conde-Hernandez moved around Central New Jersey throughout her childhood and graduated from South Brunswick High School.
“I graduated with a 3.5 [grade point average], I was president of the National French Honors Society, I was in the steering committee for the National Honor Society, I was president of the Latino Culture Club, I did HiTOPS, essentially a program that teaches sex-ed through workshops as a senior to the underclassmen, and I worked full-time senior year also,” she said.
Conde-Hernandez graduated from Middlesex Community College with honors in 2007, transferred into the University in spring 2008 and now lives in New Brunswick.
Under the Immigration and Naturalization Acts, a foreign person entering the United States must apply for a visa. After five consecutive years of permanent residency, the immigrant can apply for naturalization to become a U.S. citizen. A person is classified as undocumented when they enter the country without a visa or they enter with a visa and remain in the country past the allotted term.
Once Conde-Hernandez turned 18, any path that her parents chose to pursue citizenship or residency no longer affected her.
“My parents are in the process of attaining residency,” she said. “I can no longer get residency under theirs because I am no longer a minor.”
Conde-Hernandez is faced with two options upon graduation. She said she can either stay in New Jersey and risk deportation while advocating for reform or return to Mexico to locate her birth certificate and passport, and try to get her documents in order.
“I don’t want to leave New Jersey. It’s all I know,” she said. “Every recollection, every memory of me ever being conscious is in Jersey.”
Under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, anyone who has stayed in the United States with undocumented status for more than year is subject to a 10-year bar from re-applying for entry into the United States.
The bar can be appealed, but Conde-Hernandez said she is wary of the process.
School of Engineering sophomore Andrej Mitev, a Macedonian immigrant who plans to achieve naturalized citizenship next year, said he understands the complications of immigration law but does not support in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants.
“At the end of the year, they don’t pay state taxes. They do pay sales taxes like everyone else, but that isn’t the same thing,” he said.
Mitev said he has a few undocumented immigrant friends who faced situations similar to those of Conde-Hernandez.
“First I want undocumented immigrants to get their documents in order. That’s how they will help themselves,” he said. “Afterwards, they will have an easier life here.”
He said the federal government should address flaws in immigration policy before states go about creating new laws.
School of Arts and Sciences first-year student Damarys Romero said she supports in-state tuition because it does not give undocumented immigrants additional benefits, but instead levels the playing field.
“The whole reason they’re here is because of economic hardship,” Romero said. “They should have the same opportunity as us.”
The Corzine and Christie campaigns could not be reached at press time.
Bill to aid in-state immigrant students
Published: Monday, November 2, 2009
Updated: Monday, November 2, 2009
Your argument is based on invalid conjectures, so I will respond to you in kind.
People with the name Dean are stupid. You must be stupid.
The affirmative action and the quota system was declared unconstitutional in the 70s. So Luisa has been wrong since the 70s. Good job forming your opinions, Luisa. Most illegal immigrants do pay taxes, even though they're undocumented. The process of searching and deporting immigrants costs more in the long run than allowing them to assimilate into this country.
I have no opinion in the matter, I just hate it when people form opinions based on information that isn't true.
How does she work? She doesn't have any documents to complete the I9 form. Her employer is breaking the law.