Community Network
KoreAm October 2007
p.97
A Victory For The Students
One barrier facing undocumented students has been successfully removed: the right to access in-state tuition. The difference between out-of-state and in-state tuition is often the determining factor for low-income immigrant students in deciding a school. In California, Assembly Bill 540 was created to allow students, regardless of their immigration status, to pay in-state tuition rates if they meet certain residency requirements.
However, KRC received numerous calls from eligible students being denied in-state tuition from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) because of their narrow interpretation of "undocumented" status. UCSD had failed to understand that immigrants become undocumented through various ways and that a significant percentage of undocumented immigrant students from Asia lose their status after their valid visas have expired. For these students, the U.S. is their home and they will no doubt continue to con-tribute back to it well beyond college.
The Korean Resource Center and NAKASEC, with assistance from the National Immigration Law Center and the determination of the impacted students, successfully advocated for University of California schools to rescind their policy and take at face value students' applications and intentions to legalize their status should they be given the opportunity. But while the fight at UCSD may be over, many other California public colleges are also denying in-state tuition to eligible students.
Living Securely
Building and maintaining good credit is fundamental to living securely and fueling future success. Unfortunately, many immigrant families find themselves in precarious financial situations because they cannot maximize their hard-earned incomes to receive loans, buy homes and open businesses. In most cases, they do not know about building credit and where to go for information. NAKASEC and its affiliates, with support from FreddieMac, are offering the CreditSmart Asian program, which provides valuable work-shops and bilingual materials about the importance of credit and how to maintain it. For more information, contact Jeong Yeon Hong at (323) 937-3703, ext. 204 or jhong [at] nakasec.org.
No-Match Letters Could Devastate Immigrants
On Aug. 10, the Department of Homeland Security announced a series of rulings to step up enforcement-only policies. Of particular concern is the conversion of no-match letters sent by the Social Security Administration into an immigration enforcement tool by allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to use receipt of the no-match letter as evidence that the employer has "constructive knowledge" that an employee is unauthorized to work. The potential impact is devastating, resulting in widespread cases of profiling, discrimination and unjust termination. YKASEC and KRCC joined other immigrant rights' groups and unions in front of regional SSA offices in New York and Chicago to express these concerns to administrative leadership. Despite the Aug. 31 temporary restraining order that prohibits the SSA to send these letters, a great need from the community for more information still existed. NAKASEC produced three bilingual guides, two on SSA no-match for workers and for employers and a Know Your Rights guide in case you are stopped by immigration. All materials can be downloaded at www.nakasec.org.
August DREAMs
Youth received support from the community for the DREAM Act.
NAKASEC youth spent the summer educating community members, collecting postcards and visiting congressional members to set the stage for a September re-appearance of the DREAM Act.
Quick Updates
> On Aug. 23, EunSook Lee presented at the "Policy Update The immigration debate and its impact on families and communities" workshop at the joint annual convention of the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development and the Council of Native Hawaiians in Honolulu.
> Green Son, KRC's summer intern, delivered a prayer petition during the annual Labor Day mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Jung Woo Son, a Korean American painter, was blessed along with other workers.
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