Difficulties for Undocumented and Foreign Students in the U.S.

¶ … 1960s to date, the U.S. has had the highest inflows of international students. The number has been growing over the years. Whereas 65,000 student visas were issued in 1971 the number of visas reported to have been issued in 2000 were 315, 000 (Borjas, 2002). The number of international students in the country by 2003 was approximately to be 586, 323. This represents a massive growth from the student numbers in the 1950s and the 1960s (Open Doors, 2004a). The figure represents 4.6% of the entire U.S. student population.

It is noteworthy that international students comprise more than 10% of the students and the proportion is even higher for the technical disciplines like computer science and engineering (Open Doors, 2004a). It is estimated that in the last decade, 49% of engineering doctorates and 35% of physical sciences were awarded to foreign students (Borjas, 2002; Baker and Finn, 2003;Hazen & Alberts, 2006). Why is Immigration System Bad for Foreign Students The terrorist attack that took place on September 11, 2001 had serious implications, most of them for worse or negatively for several sectors.

Many changes have been effected since then to prevent the recurrence of a similar event. Several statutes were amended or enacted by the Congress to address matters related to terrorism and many of these promulgations were in concern with institutions of higher learning. There are, in addition, pending proposals that have yet to be passed into law. Regulations to implement these laws are already in place or are in the process of being put in place.

The amendments have affected even some of the most well established laws of the land (Olivias, 2012). While some of the regulations were discarded over the last decade, a significant number remain part of institutional practice. In spite these laws, the flow of international students continues unabated to the West -- the EU and the U.S. (Olivias, 2012).

What can be done to fix it? As America struggles to find the best way to fix the "broken" immigration system, approximately eleven million immigrants that are not documented, live, work and bring up their families in the U.S. In the first 5 years of President Obama's term, he deported at least 2 million unauthorized immigrants. The majority were forced to exit after being bookedfor even minor offenses like traffic violations (Marshall & Gonchar, 2014). Is offering these immigrants a clearer path to being U.S.

citizens a better alternative to having them deported? A number of people make the argument that resorting to such an option will be unfair, especially to other people who have followed due process, filed their citizenship applications, and are waiting for their turn. Some other people make the argument that the unskilled that have no family ties in the U.S. do not stand a chance of securing a GREEN CARD under the prevailing law (Marshall & Gonchar, 2014).

President Obama, in June of 2012, made an announcement of an executive action giving temporary reprieve to a sizable number -- more than 800, 000 - of young people affected. He did later on make another announcement that gave reprieve to another 5 million. In his speech, the president noted that the immigration system was indeed broken and immediate corrective measure was necessary (Marshall & Gonchar, 2014). Millions of students graduate from high school in the U.S. every year. An estimated 65,000 of these are undocumented students.

The excitement of graduating high school for these students is never realized, as accessing higher education is very difficult for unregistered students (Perez, 2013). The Supreme Court in 1982 in Plyler v. Doe decided that regardless of immigration status, all students are guaranteed a K-12 education. This guarantee did not cover higher education. Furthermore, various state legislatures as well as the Congress have repeatedly tried to bar these undocumented students from accessing higher education. Besides these legal hurdles, most of these students face numerous financial challenges.

Competing with peers therefore becomes very difficult as the opportunities are unequal and skewed (Perez, 2013). In the past three decades the cost of getting college degrees increased by over 1000%. In spite of the high cost of education, federal education benefits are still largely inaccessible to undocumented students. Most students finance their post-secondary education using federal benefits and so it is a serious disadvantage to the undocumented students.

Also, the in-state tuition rates do not apply to these students in many states and this makes tuition largely unaffordable for this demographic (Perez, 2013). Over the past decade, states have been trying to make post-secondary education easier to access for undocumented students. Through state-based DREAM Acts, some states are allowing undocumented students the opportunity to enjoy the same tuition rates as their resident counterparts. Texas was the first state to enact a bill of such nature.

The view held by most of the legislators was that having a population much more educated would greatly benefit the state. After the Texas decision, a number of other states followed suit and approved similar laws (Perez, 2013). Why this is good for America as a whole The routes to legalization proposed by immigration reform have always had a close association with educational attainment, so allowing these students access to higher education is very important.

The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, for instance, did include an accelerated route to legalization for these young.