Daily Bruin response to uninformed letter writer

Last week, one of those lucky enough to 'do it the right way' published an anti-California Dream Act letter. We responded with an open letter detailing where her arguments were falling short. Now, an anonymous writer responds with a personal story. This one is worth publishing in its entirety.

DREAM Act allows all to contribute

In response to Gergana Panteva’s letter “DREAM Act not fair to other students” (Oct. 9): Actually, I am sure the reporters have considered the impact on the state’s economy by giving financial aid and other educational funding opportunities to undocumented students.

Without giving aid to undocumented students and a path to legal residency, our state accrues a population of at least 15,000-20,000 students each year with degrees in teaching, engineering, mathematics, English, the sciences and many other subjects that would be able to contribute largely to today’s society. Instead, these students are unable to work legally.

In essence, without the DREAM Act, our state’s economy gets an exponentially growing pile of eager, talented, educated people with marvelous potential, but cannot access them or their intellectual resources. Why? Because they are forced to be on the periphery of a community to which they want to contribute. If the DREAM Act was not vetoed, imagine how much these students could help the economy grow in a time of deepening recession.

The reporters, as well as students, are well-aware of the processes to apply for permanent residency, as well as worker and student visas. If you go on the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services Web site (uscis.gov) and read the eligibility requirements, every single form for permanent residency requires legal entry to the United States and being here on unexpired visas. There are some ways to get around the process. I could marry a citizen for two years, do you think that is OK?

Let us instead keep it on the law-abiding front. I, too, am here for a reason. My parents and I emigrated from Pakistan when I was 6 months old. Like Bulgaria, Pakistan has a poor public education system.

It also has a corrupt and unsafe environment for religious minorities. We entered here legally on a tourist visa that lasted five years. My parents did not have the funds to apply for residency. So, we overstayed our visa. Technically, that makes me a “legal immigrant,” I’d say.

I did apply for a worker’s visa, a work permit, as well as a student visa, and my applications were denied. Again, if you read the rules, anyone here who does not have a legal visa or is not at all in the immigration process is ineligible to apply. Though I have entered legally, since I am here illegally now, that makes me ineligible.

If we actually did have ways to apply for residency and a visa or both, why wouldn’t we? I have been here for 21 years, and I have enough patience to take a longer route to residency. If such ways actually existed, then bills such as SB 1301 to actually make such a path wouldn’t exist! Logic, my friends, logic.

Now, let’s get to taxes. We have been over this time and time again. It is quite possible to pay taxes without a Social Security number. All one needs is an ITIN, which is like a tax ID number. My parents have been paying taxes since the first year they got here.

If Panteva had done her research before making such claims, she’d realize that most illegal immigrants, from car-wash workers to strawberry pickers to undocumented University of California students, pay their taxes, and happily. As undocumented students, we pay tuition, part of which goes into a financial aid fund we do not have access to.

I hope, dear readers, I have earned the right to get some of that money back. These are my resources as much as they are yours.

Legal immigrants like Panteva have the privilege of applying for jobs with some level of security and benefits, grants, loans, and scholarships. Undocumented students speak to attorney after attorney, trying to find a legal path to residency, no matter how tedious.

Such a path simply does not exist. If you can find one, please let me know, for I would be more than happy to pursue it. It is time for some shortcut to be established, because a path to legal residency or citizenship is impossible to achieve for undocumented students.

Concerned American

Fourth-year, sociology