Immigrants coming 'out of the shadows' in pursuit of a dream

By Bud Kennedy

bud@star-telegram.com

For some Texas college students, this week is not about football or fiestas.

The start of school also marked the start of paperwork for the "Dreamers" -- illegal immigrant students under age 31 who were brought here as children and hope to stay on a new two-year federal permit.

On a weekend when celebrations mark Mexico's independence, a University of Texas at Arlington senior Dreamer said she and fellow students will be busy helping others apply for American freedom.

"People are really scared of the whole application process," said Nicole Añonuevo, a criminal justice major and spokeswoman for the North Texas Dream Team students.

"Some want to wait and make sure it isn't struck down. We tell them it's time to come out of the shadows."

Añonuevo, 21, came to the U.S. at 6 with Filipino parents who lost their visas along with family businesses in the economic downturn.

If she fills out the six-page application and qualifies for the federal Homeland Security Department's "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals," she can get a driver's license for the first time in six years.

(She still can't vote or apply for any public benefits or charity healthcare.)

"For years, I lived on the other side of the fence [legally], so to be on this side has really been eye-opening," she said.

Although she's Filipino, she is constantly told, "Go back to Mexico." She changed her Facebook profile when stalkers wrote, "We are going to find and deport you."

The Dream Team is hosting workshops, including one Thursday at a junior college in Corinth and another Sept. 29 at UTA. At one session, a student said that his family brought him to Texas but that his father was deported and killed in Mexico.

"He's trying to make ends meet for his family and still stay in school," Añonuevo said.

"It really helped him to meet other students."

Federal paperwork is daunting enough for anyone, and illegal immigrants are already a scam target.

So lawyers help the Dreamers through websites such as DREAMersRights.org.

Some fakers already run online ads guaranteeing permits for $2,500.

"It's a whole new immigration scam," said Cynthia Martinez, a DREAMersRights spokeswoman.

"These are college students. We want to keep them from being victims."

And we want to keep them.

Bud Kennedy's column appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 817-390-7538

Twitter: @budkennedy

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