Students rally for act that would help immigrant college students

Published: 2004-06-11

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Eighteen-year-old Nienke Schouten is a typical American teenager. She worked hard in school and looked forward to a fun summer before going away to the University of California at Berkeley in the fall. But unlike the dreams of other students, Schouten's dream was stopped short because she cannot receive financial aid since she is not a citizen of the United States. Without permanent residence status, the graduate of Santa Clara High School in Oxnard, who came to the United States with her family from the Netherlands 12 years ago, is not eligible for any financial aid, making her unable to afford tuition. "We are not criminals; we only want better lives. Let us contribute to society by going to college," she said during a June 1 rally at the University of California at Los Angeles to support the passage of congressional bills that would grant legal residency to qualified immigrant students. Activists are lobbying lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives to schedule the bills -- called the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors, or DREAM, Act -- for a vote during the current term of Congress.

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