Rigoberto Padilla, 21, came to the USA from Mexico when he was 6. He went to school in Chicago, joined the honor society and dreamed of becoming a lawyer-all while living here illegally. Padilla’s status wasn’t a problem until he applied for college and couldn’t qualify for financial aid without a Social Security number, he says.
In January, the University of Illinois-Chicago junior was charged with drunken driving. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor (轻罪), paid a fine and got court supervision, but that brought him to the attention of immigration officials and triggered deportation proceedings. "It was one mistake in my life," he says.
Padilla’s impending deportation, catapulted (猛投) him into a campaign to stop the deportation of college students and recent graduates. Lawmakers, students, members of the clergy and other acti-vists hope to buy the students time and use their stories to push for laws that would allow them, and perhaps millions of other illegal immigrants, to earn legal status, says Joshua Hoyt of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agreed last week to delay Padilla’s deportation for a year, him one of at least seven young illegal immigrants who have had their deportations delayed since June, according to Dream Activist, one of the groups spearheading the campaign. Family ties and community standing are among the factors ICE considers when asked to delay a deportation, says ICE spokesman Richard Rocha.
"I want to graduate college and give back to this country," Padilla says. His supporters flooded the Department of Homeland Security with thousands of faxes and designed a Facebook page telling 2 800 members how to help. The Chicago City Council passed a resolution in his behalf, and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill. , introduced a bill specifically for him that would allow him to stay. "Why would we deprive ourselves of outstanding students and future leaders" she asks. "They had no part in the decision to come here. "
There are 12 million illegal immigrants in the USA. Activists call for an overhaul of immigration law that would offer them a way to earn legal status. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Dill. , introduced a bill Tuesday that would give illegal immigrants who pay fines, pass background checks and meet other requirements a path toward legal residency. College students who are illegal immigrants fail under a separate proposal called the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act--the DREAM Act. Requirements would include arrival in the USA at 15 or younger, a five-year residency or more, and at least two years of college or military service. Versions of the act have been introduced since 2001 without success.
Why do some Americans ask for legal status for some illegal immigrants