An excellent article by Washington RNHA member Greg Gourley on the plights of graduating high schools that are undocumented or are not green-card holders.

 

The Texas RNHA passed, during its state convention, a resolution in support of a proposed Texas State bill that mandates that students that reside in the state and graduated from a Texas high school, that are also admitted to a state university, pay in-state tuition, regardless of their  immigration status. A similar change in legislation is warranted in Washington State (among others).

 

The article also briefly mentions another problem. Insurance companies in Washington Sate are now requiring a SSN and a financial scoring (credit check) to issue coverage. Undocumented residents of the state are now unable to get or renew their car insurance or obtain or refinance their home loans. This is another issue that warrants attention by our state legislature.

 

Pedro Celis, Ph. D.

RNHA - Washington

State Chairman

 

 

By Greg Gourley
Director, New Americans of Washington
615 Market Street, Suite G - Kirkland, Washington
Tel: 425-822-2523 - Email: info@newamericans.com

A recent article in The Seattle Times about graduating high school seniors caught my attention. It told how the newspaper was "...launching it annual search for the region's outstanding high-school graduates."

While I applaud the paper's recognition of future leaders, I am also concerned about the growing number of students who are bright and talented and yet will never be recognized nor have the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities because they are in the United States illegally.

Teachers and counselors tell all students that if they work hard, study, and graduate they can go to college and find a good job. Or enlist in the military and learn a job skill. Or apply for a federal job. Or become a police officer or firefighter. But none of these opportunities are available to thousands of school age children in America who are not permanent residents ("green card" holders) with valid Social Security Numbers.

For many of this year's high school graduates in Western Washington, the message to work and study hard is fruitless and the opportunity of an education beyond high school is doubtful. These students without legal status and permanent residency can be found in growing numbers in the Bellevue, Lake Washington, Highline, and Seattle School Districts and all across Washington state and America.

Their presence in the United States is not necessarily their own doing. Many came with their families as small children. Their parents entered the U.S. illegally and stayed. Some came with their parents as tourists and visitors, especially from Canada. Their parents overstayed their visas, found jobs, blended in, established businesses, and bought homes.

Others arrived as refugees and were given Temporary Protected Status (TPS) when their countries were torn apart by civil war or natural disaster. When conflict in their native countries ended and conditions improved, the U.S. State Department cancelled their TPS and told them to go back to their country.

But returning was not always possible. Many had nothing to return to. Their homes and businesses had been destroyed. They had bought homes in America, opened businesses and become employers and taxpayers. Their children were born in America, became automatic citizens and learned English, not the language and customs of their parents.

And today in Bellevue that is the situation of Raouf and Lulu Ziadeh and their four children. The Ziadehs are Orthodox Christians from Lebanon. They left Beirut at the encouragement of the U.S. Ambassador during the 1986 civil war between Christian and Muslim militias. The Ambassador made it possible for the Ziadehs to obtain visas and enter the United States so they could start their lives over again. They applied for TPS believing they could someday return to Beirut.

I met the Ziadeh's five years ago when Lulu's mother, Mary Salibi, decided to become an American citizen. She had received her "green card" years before through her son's sponsorship and now hoped to help her daughters and their families, especially her school age grandchildren establish their lives securely in America.

Raouf and Lulu are a quiet, hardworking and respectful couple. You would want them as your neighbors.

They own a home on the Eastside and their two sons, Elie, 14, and Michael 13, were born in America. Today they own and operate Byblos Mediterranean Food and Deli next to McDonalds in downtown Bellevue. Their store is filled with the smells and tastes of the Mediterranean: cheeses, olives, and baklava. Raouf opens and closes the store and Lulu fills in for him during the day.

They're like any other American family. They pay taxes and worry about medical costs and electric bills. Elie and Michael attend Tyee Middle School. They play sports, ride skateboards, study computers, and help their parents at their store.

Their daughters, Diana, 22, and Lina, 21, graduated from Bellevue's Newport High School in 1997 and 1998. They were normal active students who could have applied for and received college financial aid and scholarships, except they had no legal status to do so and could not qualify. They don't enjoy the same opportunities as their friends and brothers who are U.S. citizens by birth. Neither girl has a Social Security Number for work. Raouf knows he could have obtained fake Social Security Numbers for them, but he didn't want his daughters to break the law, lie to an employer, and create serious problems for themselves.

For now, both girls live at home and attend Bellevue Community College. The family pays out-of-state tuition that is three times the cost of residential tuition. The girls don't drive because they can't get insurance without a Social Security Number and don't want to have unnecessary contact with the police that could jeopardize their situation.

They've been told they could resolve their status problem by marrying an American citizen. Many people do so to gain residency, but neither wants to follow that available route. Nor do their parents want them to.

For now, Diana, Lina, and their parents wait and wait hoping that someday soon they can truly call America their country and make a life for themselves that the American ambassador assured them would be theirs in the United States. They are growing restless to get on with their lives. They left Beirut more than 15 years ago. And they know very well the risk they are taking in telling their personal story now. But as Raouf and Lulu say, "It's been 15 years. We can't continue living this way."

Maybe they can qualify for a future amnesty, but they know amnesty is very political and uncertain. They have also thought about asking Representative Jennifer Dunn to sponsor a private bill in Congress on their behalf that would grant them residency.

Raouf and Lulu have applied for the benefits of the INS's 245(i) program that ends April 30, 2001 and allows illegals to stay in the United States if they have a "blood relative" to petition for them who is a "green card" holder or citizen. Raouf's brother is a citizen and renowned medical doctor and lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. He is petitioning for Raouf and Lulu. Lulu's mother, Mary, now a citizen, is also petitioning for them.

But there is no petition possible for Diana and Lina.

Both are over 21 and do not qualify for residency through their grandmother. Nor can Raouf's brother sponsor them. Their hopes rest with their parents eventually becoming citizens or when their younger brothers turn 21 and are old enough to sponsor them.

Diana and Lina represent a growing number of young people in the United States who desperately want to become full members of American society and contribute their talents and energy to the country they have lived in most of their lives

While Diana's and Lina's future remains uncertain, they and many like them in high schools throughout Puget Sound and America are watching the outcome of several congressional proposals to grant permanent residency and/or citizenship to high school graduates who are not legal residents.

Until then, Diana and Lina can only talk about the future with their family and friends. They want to get on with their lives, become American citizens, and begin productive careers. And so do thousands of others like them who attend America's schools and will graduate in June and find out the morning after, if not before, that for them America is not the promised land of opportunity.

End