Unocumented Students

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Many families from around the world migrate to the United States for better life opportunities. The opportunities to pursue their long-life dreams, escape poverty, or reunite with relatives. A percentage of these immigrants either entered the country with no legal documentation or simply overstayed their visas – these individuals become America’s estimated 11.9 million undocumented immigrants (Gildersleeve & Ranero, 2010). The children who migrated with their families become America’s undocumented students (2010).
Obtaining an accurate count of undocumented students in the United States is difficult, but estimates range that about 65,000 to 85,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools each year (Ortiz & Hinojosa, 2010). In these school systems, school leaders and society impose the idea to future generations of students and their families that education is the key to success in the United States. However, education is only covered by the U.S. government until a student reaches their senior year of high school. Upon receiving a high school diploma or GED, students are eligible to apply and enroll in to two-year and four-year …show more content…
Supreme Court case of Plyer v. Doe has allowed undocumented students to receive free legal access to public education (K-12), but once they graduate from high school, these students face a huge hurdle trying to access a post-secondary education (Perez et al., 2010). Access becomes an issue due to their legal status, state/federal law, and the limited amount of financial resources. This puts many undocumented students’ dreams on hold until they can initiate the next move, and/or the state or federal government agree to pass legislation supporting undocumented students in higher education. Often, undocumented students are the first in their family to pursue a college degree (2010). This makes it difficult for families to assist their child(ren) to navigate through the college system (Gildersleeve et al.,
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