"There should not be a question of legal or illegal immigration. People came and immigrated to this country from the time of the Indians. No one's illegal. They should just be able to come." - Ronstadt
It is clear that not all individuals have the same opportunities in life. The unavoidable inequalities within and between societies put some people in social and economic conditions which force them to migrate from their place of origin to another. Every day many people from impoverished nations make one of the most difficult decisions of their lives in leaving their homes to provide a better life for themselves and their offspring. These types of immigrants have faced various challenges in their new country. The challenges may even become more serious in the case of being undocumented immigrants. Children whom did not make the choice to come to the United States face additional obstacles throughout their life particularly, during their academic journeys. Most of them have to live in a shadow like their parents as soon as they arrive in the United States. Undocumented students struggle with barriers to higher education, fears of detention and deportation, and isolation from peers, as a result of their legal status.
Undocumented students usually encounter tremendous financial and legal barriers in higher education. Young children, who are brought to the US by their parents before school age, usually attend public schools, where they have free and equal access to educational resources and are rarely asked about their legal status. However, once they became college age, these resources are no longer at their disposal because of their undocumented status. Diaz- Strong in her article discusses how the lack of financial aid prevents undocumented students from continuing studying after high school. She argues "The immigration status of undocumented students makes them ineligible for any type of federal aid. In addition, in most states, they...