Tower at Texas University in April 2024 in Austin.
(Sergio Flores / Getti)
By June, Texas was one of the best states in the country when it came to the proposal of students without documents. But after the Ministry of Justice started a lawsuit against the state, the officials quietly completed the policy.
The lawsuit claimed that Texas violated the 1996 Federal Law, which prohibits students of undocumented to receive residence tuition assistance if these benefits are also not widespread on all US citizens, where they live. Instead of fighting the trial, Texas officials were almost immediately capitulated. “They were discussed only 30 minutes, and then settled,” said Abraham Espinosa, the director of access to higher education in The Houston filmOrganization of immigrants and civil rights in Texas with programs that support the undocumented students.
The politician, originally passed in 2001 as a bill on the House of 1403, allowed students without documents who lived in Texas and graduated from Texas High School to pay for public education at public colleges and universities. Informal as the Texas Law, it opened the door for higher education for tens of thousands of young people who grew up in the state but were banned from federal financial assistance and most scholarships.
The sudden reversal occurred after several attempts by Texas legislation to abolish the bills. “Fiel staff has been at the Capitol of each session since 2011, fighting for the protection of public training,” Espinosa said. “We won it again this year. But two days later we blinded.” Now the mailbox Espinosa is full of messages from undocumented students and families who ask: what does that mean to me?
Outered students and recipients of DACA can still apply for state aid in Texas through a statement in Texas on state financial assistance, for example, in Texas grants – unlike loans, you do not need to pay off. But the Tasfa was already limited, paying a maximum of $ 8,000 a year. This is barely enough to cover public training, and now that the undocumented students have to pay outside the rates, it will not even approach. “Tasfa remains the same,” Espinos said. “The lawsuit only applies to the HB 1403 HB 1403 state support. Thus, they can still receive financial assistance, but they still have to pay for state fees.” This difference makes college for many unavailable. “Now this is even more financial burden, because it is unlikely to cover anything,” Espinos said. “They still need to find help elsewhere, either to pass, or to reduce their credit hours. But the reduction of credit hours affects their right to help, because to get the right, they must be enrolled in full -time. So we are now.”
Students now make a tough choice. 18 -year -old Simena recently graduated from Houston High School and planned to study at a Texas University in Tayler. The scholarship from the Honor Program, the professors who support, and the strong chemistry department made it the main choice. But when studying, about $ 9,000 per semester before the help was processed, and the status outside the state has retreated. “I didn’t even want to see that it would be when learning outside the state,” she said. “It was already quite high when I was still considered in the state. I just didn’t want to find out what the number would turn into.”
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Instead, Ximena went to Houston -College. The work on the loans she graduated in high school helped reduce her account to $ 800, but that’s three times more than the students pay. “They first quote me $ 4,000,” she said. “Even now it’s a lot. And what I find available can be something that is simply impossible for other families.”
Simena arrived in the US on a tourist visa in high school to avoid violence in his hometown in Mexico. “Most of my memories, my socialization, my education that everything happened here,” she said. “I mostly did my whole training in Texas.” The most impression, ”she said, this is how calm the changes have taken place. “I saw a 10-second segment in the news,” she said. “Even HCC staff did not actually had resources and information. It concerns me, but it also made me think what support schools provide to focus on it? It seemed we must learn on our own.”
He says that most of her peers are not engaged in the same immigration status, but they still experience broader effects in higher education. “I see people on the Internet who had a dream school and have received significant help, and now they are canceled, dropped or delayed. Some cannot even register,” Simen said. She still hopes to translate to the University of Houston and the specialty in chemistry.
The 25 -year Axel takes place in the last year at Saint -Tomas University in Texas. He came to the state from the San Louis Patosi, Mexico, when he was three and since then lived in Houston. He is a daca recipient, that is, he has a job permit and a social security number, but none of the federal financial aid that citizens can access. He studies studio art with a focus on photography and video. But the increase in the cost of learning threatens to reduce it last year. “I always needed to spend part-time work because my financial assistance never covers them all,” he said. “I still cry from $ 500 to $ 1000 every semester. Sometimes more.”
He described a feeling that is stuck between the financial assistance that is not far enough, and student loans that he has no right. “I can’t take federal or private student loans through school,” Axel said. “I could try to get a private loan from a private company, but it is difficult to get approved and the amounts are low. Even if I get it, it can only help a little.”
Axel said he filled the TASPH with local groups such as the Houston and Cafe, but still ended up. “Every time I apply, they ask for everything, the household amount, how long I have been here. But even if I get help, it never happens,” he said. “I usually have to go, asking people help either to see if you know about additional scholarships.”
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Since the end of July, he has not heard anything from Saint -Tomas about how they planned to fight changes. “They said nothing – there is no message, no email,” he said. “I’m somehow flying blind. I planned to go today to ask about it, but it’s always tense. I never know what the number will be.” He said he should finish his training next year, but now he’s not sure. “I just don’t know if I can go back,” he said. “That’s where I am.”
Espinos said the consequences have already reached their own family. His sister, who has a bachelor’s degree, planned to go to graduate school. “But she was distracted when it happened,” he said. “She looked at the numbers and just didn’t think it’s worth it.” And for students who are just starting, a new reality may mean that school is quite. “We had students who say they are going to throw,” Espinosa said. “And this is exactly what the state wants.”
Espinosa emphasized that the unregistered is a civilian, not a crime, a crime. “It is not illegal to be here. The system just does not allow our community to flourish,” he said. “The message is loud and clear: you are good enough to choose vegetables or clean hotel rooms but don’t go to college.”
“It is about whom we think is successful,” Espinosa said. “And now the message from the state: not you.”
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