PAUL WELLMAN
COVER STORY
We can help with depression, anxiety, stress, and difficulties at home, school, & work. We help you learn how to make changes that will improve mood, relieve stress, and build better relationships Individual, couple, & family therapy for children, teens, & adults Evening Hours Affordable Rates Servicios in Español ARRIVAL: “Ernesto” gazed across campus during his first week of classes at UCSB this fall. A student in the College of Engineering, he earned a 4.0 GPA.
COURTESY
everyone thinks they should be eligible to attend public universities, let alone be in the country. The ones interviewed for this article, however, felt that although they are sometimes misperceived by the public, they are nonetheless patriotic Americans. “The biggest thing people should know,” said Julia, “is we’re hard workers. We really do go above and beyond. Education is what we crave.” “Despite what anyone says — the economy’s broken or conservatives are ruining this or liberals are ruining that,” said Iktan, “I still think it’s one of the best countries to live in.” “When people are against giving me help financially to go to college, they talk a lot about the numbers,” said Ernesto.” They talk a lot about how much my education is costing them. In the end, I think it’s a psychological thing for them. They don’t put a face to [the numbers]. … When you put a face to the problem, it makes it harder to say something so harsh as, ‘Deport all the people who are living here.’” Not that that is likely. Public colleges and universities do not keep statistics specifically on undocumented students, but estimates put the number in the tens of thousands, the bulk being at community colleges. The Director of Admissions at UCSB, Lisa Przekop, said that rising numbers are expected as more applicants become aware that they are eligible for financial aid. And according to the pro-reform American Immigration Council, more than 400,000 undocumented students in California are or will be eligible for deferred action. While deferred action offers a reprieve for many, high school counselor Castellanos said,“The ultimate goal for me is that for my AB students, they go to college, they graduate, but they have to have that pathway to citizenship. … That’s the ultimate goal. If and when that takes place, that’s when I can retire.”
THE �W OF THE �ND
While most movement on immigration policy has come at the state level, President Obama has indicated his desire for Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration-reform bill this year. Santa Barbara’s House Representative Lois Capps has cosponsored a bill, HR , that would offer a path to citizenship for undocumented residents. She told The Santa Barbara Independent that she supports deferred action and believes a reform bill would secure “a stable workforce for our agriculture and high-tech industries,” adding that any bill should include stronger border security and employment-enforcement measures. Via a statement, she signaled optimism that a bill could make it through Congress. Just days later, however, Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner announced that he did not believe consensus was possible. DREAMers tend to pay close attention to such news, and they are aware that not
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THE INDEPENDENt
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