The United States is one of the top countries people immigrate to, in fact, it is the second on the list just behind Germany. According to statistics given by the American Immigration Council, one in seven US residents is an immigrant, while one in eight residents is a native-born US citizen with at least one immigrant parent. It is impossible not to acknowledge the contribution of immigrants to the development of the country as much as it is a fact that millions of them are undocumented. 0.3 million undocumented immigrants comprised 23 percent of the immigrant population and 3 percent of the total US population in 209. Despite the thousands of efforts of the presidents to avoid this happening, it continues to happen every day as . million enter every year, and 5% of that rate corresponds to children. Wishing to pursue the American Dream, they study hard, they try to learn the language, manners, and culture. Anyway, they are at risk of not getting into college or even getting deported to a country that is not their home anymore. That is why the government should reform immigration laws in order to give every student the same opportunity for success, regardless of their immigration status.
The immigrant issue itself is a very delicate topic in the government, every time there is a big opportunity for immigration reform, an imaginary wall is put
between that possibility and the chance of it being done. In 204, President Obama delayed taking executive action on immigration because the Democratic Party thought it would obstruct the partyΒs opportunity of winning the midterm elections. Then in 206, President-elect Donald Trump, literally based his whole campaign on xenophobic speeches, which was represented during his years in office as he debilitated almost every aspect of the government dedicated to immigrant affairs. But the topic that has remained unfairly unattended for years is the one regarding undocumented students pursuing higher education. One research by New American Economy in April of 2020 found that there are more than 450,000 undocumented students in higher education, this figure corresponds to 2% of the total student population. This percentage might not seem as big as one would expect, but this is also related to all the boundaries that are put between them and their dreams. Almost 30% of undocumented children live under the poverty line. Further education is a luxury for many of them. Only in nineteen states they will receive in-state tuition, but just in seven theyll have the opportunity to apply for financial aid, and if they are from Alabama and South Carolina, they wonΒt even have the right to enroll in college because these states had banned enrollment entirely.