Who would the DREAM Act help?
Barrientos and Jimenez: About 65,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools each year. Only a small number of them can afford to continue on to college because only about 10 states (including New York) allow undocumented students to pay for college as state residents. Everywhere else, undocumented students have to pay two or three times the resident tuition rates. The DREAM Act would help those young people who were brought to this country by their parents at an early age and had no part in deciding to come here without documents. NYC: What are the current options for undocumented immigrants who want to go to college? Barrientos and Jimenez: Undocumented students can attend college without having a Social Security number. The problem is how they’re going to pay for it. They can’t receive any financial aid, work legally or get loans to pay for tuition. Many undocumented students I know have to work long hours for low wages in restaurants or babysitting to pay for their tu
