Students seek immigration law change

Facing South: Holding out for the Dream: Students seek immigration law change

This month high-school students around the country will walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. College weighs heavy on the minds of a lot of students these days, but for one group of immigrant students the decision to go to college is often not one they are able to even consider.

The debate around providing educational benefits for undocumented students -- particularly in regards to providing financial aid or in-state college tuition rates -- has been heating up over the past few months at both the state and federal level.

At the federal level, the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors, or Dream Act, which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate on March 26, would allow states to charge the children of undocumented immigrants in-state tuition and provide a multi-step path to citizenship for these students. Advocates of the federal Dream Act are launching a new effort to pass the bill this year.

In order to receive the bill's benefits, undocumented students must have been in the country for five years, be 15 years old or younger at the time they entered the country and be of 'good moral character.' To gain permanent legal status in the country, the applicant must complete a two-year college or vocational school program, have two years toward a bachelor's or serve in the armed forces for at least two years. This month high-school students around the country will walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. College weighs heavy on the minds of a lot of students these days, but for one group of immigrant students the decision to go to college is often not one they are able to even consider.

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The debate around providing educational benefits for undo"