For Latino College Students Status Change Doesn't Solve Tuition Issue
Erika Andiola and Cesar Vargas, advocates from the Dream Action Coalition will speak during "DACAmented and Still DREAMing".
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The challenges facing Latino students at the University of Arkansas who refer to themselves as “DACA-mented” is the focus of a public discussion — “DACAmented and Still DREAMing” — at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 8 in the Verizon Ballroom of the Arkansas Union.
When Congress failed to pass the DREAM act – which would grant legal status to young people who were brought into this country as children – the federal government decided to give Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status to those undocumented immigrants who qualified.
These students no longer face deportation and are allowed to work legally, but in Arkansas they are still required to pay out-of-state tuition, even when they live in Arkansas and graduated from Arkansas high schools. Arkansas is one of four states with the fastest growing undocumented population, with a DACA community of roughly 9,000 students.
“DACAmented and Still DREAMing” is sponsored by four U of A Latino student organizations: the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha Inc., the League of United Latin American Citizens, and Phi Iota Alpha-Alpha Lambda Chapter.
Contacts
Maurizio Lorenzetti, president
Hispanic Scholarship Fund
571-278-0306,
mlorenze@uark.edu
Michel Rangel, president
League of United Latin American Citizens
479-301-9678,
mr013@uark.edu
Oliver Trejo, vice president
Phi lota Alpha, Alpha Lambda Chapter
479-831-8661,
otrejo@uark.edu
Maria Lopez-Torres, treasurer
Hermandad de Sigma lota Alpha, Inc.
501-266-2550,
ml003@uark.edu