For An Illegal Immigrant, Getting Into UCLA Was the Easy Part (Major Blood Pressure Alert)

The Los Angeles Times ^ | February 2, 2009 | Jason Song

[truthkeeper]

Karina De La Cruz wakes up in the dark on her first day of classes at UCLA.

Pushing herself off a two-seat couch in the living room of a San Pedro apartment this September morning, she tries not to wake a brother sleeping in a twin bed next to her, or another dozing with his wife and baby daughter in the bedroom. De La Cruz dresses quickly and briefly considers taking her skateboard, then thinks of how her mother rolls her eyes whenever she rides it. She leaves it behind.

San Pedro High SchoolAbout this story "I want to look right, I want to act right," she says later.

She hurries to the corner to catch the bus, clutching her last $5. She scans the road -- she can't be late, can't do anything that would hurt her chances of maintaining a B average. The first in her family to attend college, De La Cruz believes that a 3.0 is her way out of a crowded apartment and into a life with new opportunities.

De La Cruz faces fairy tale odds. She's an illegal immigrant, so she isn't eligible for most forms of state and federal financial aid. The University of California system, by policy, does not require applicants to disclose their citizenship status: Officials say their goal is to find the best students, not to enforce immigration law. UCLA officials say they aren't even sure how many undocumented students are on their campus...

[truthkeeper]

Nowadays a 380 SAT score and 3.0 GPA gets you into UCLA. And being illegal, of course.

[jmcenanly]

If this keeps up, a degree from UCLA will be worth less than the parchment it is printed on.

[CatoRenasci]

One has to admire the young woman’s determination in the face of obstacles — frankly, that’s a quality we need far more of in this country.

That said, she’s an illegal with risible SAT and grades, and she’s taking up a scarce seat at UCLA? That’s madness. For the institution, for the student who isn’t at UCLA because she is, for the taxpayers who are subsidizing her education, and — perhaps most tragically — for the young woman who is clearly not prepared to compete at the University of California.

The University of California was designed to take the top 12-1/2% of California high school graduates, and she’s barely top 20%. Wha’ happened?

[DieHard the Hunter]

Life is tough when one cheats the system as an illegal immigrant. Get out the crying towel! I hear the Whaaaaaaaambulance coming!

[JRios1968]

If this keeps up, a A degree from UCLA will be is already worth less than the parchment it is printed on.

Fixed

[television is just wrong]

wha’ happened, is she is a minority and is given a false boost. She took the place of someone else who was more deserving because of the color of her skin and her citizenship non status.

[originalbuckeye]

The UC system changed it’s policy. The UC system now guarantees admittance to students who graduated in the top 10% of their high school class no matter which high school. The student cannot pick which UC, there are lots, and may be required to go to a community college for two years before admittance to the UC system. If that occurs, the student then can go to a UC for the two years before graduation. The worst sticking point? Illegals pay instate tuition, ergo out-of-state Americans pay much more to go to one of the UC’s (UCLA, Berkeley, etc.) than illegals. It’s frustrating to know that we, the taxpayers of California, pay for the UC system and American students pay more than the illegals. California is in complete control of the Dems.

[CatoRenasci]

Oh, I know all of that. I'm a 5th generation Californian, and we've been a Cal family since my dad went to Berkeley in the 1920s. I've got a handful of UC degrees myself. I've stopped giving money to UC and am frustrated beyond belief with the bs.

[television is just wrong]

sad. My son and daughter are going to private institutions. My son esp can't stand the liberal ranting when he took World History and some other courses including English. The liberal slant is inundatedthrough all the schools. At CSUN, you have to take Latino studies to get your teaching credentials. My sister went through that and she did miserably because hello, she is not latino and the topic she chose, the prof didn't agree with her slant.

[whd23]

She has almost no safety net: She doesn't know her father, and her mother, who lives across the street, didn't get up to wish her good luck.

Another shining example of how "family values don't stop at the border."

Her friends urged her to think carefully. How about another school, like Cal State Long Beach? She'd been admitted and it would be cheaper and closer, they said, not mentioning that she would be less likely to fail there.

But De La Cruz slapped a Bruins sticker on her backpack, rejected the other schools...

Oh. It's another sob story about people who made piss-poor decisions. Let me get my hanky out.

[pnut22]

Sounds like the current president.

[Sig Sauer P220]

On a side note, I just got an email as follows. Don't know how true it is, but here it is nevertheless:

If an immigrant is over 65, they can apply for SSI and Medicaid and get more than a woman on Social Security, who worked from 1944 until 2004. She is only getting $791 per month because she was born in 1924 and there's a 'catch 22'.

It is interesting that the federal government provides a single refugee with a monthly allowance of $1,890. Each can also obtain an additional $580 in social assistance, for a total of $2,470 a month.

This compares to a single pensioner, who after contributing to the growth and development of America for 40 to 50 years, can only receive a monthly maximum of $1,012 in old age pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement.

[CatoRenasci]

I’ve long since left California. As much as we’re a Cal family, neither of my daughters went to UC. The older went to a private liberal arts college in the mid-West and the other to a private university in the mid-West. I could no more stomach the education courses than I could the Obama Crap Sandwich porkulus bill.

[television is just wrong]

yes she does sound like Barry Soetoro

[television is just wrong]

It is true. They go to their consulate with their work records from their nation of origin. They receive benefits accordingly. They can evey go back home and get benefits mailed there.

It is all legal. I have some ex relatives who did the exact thing. they are from Iran. They do live here with their son, but get FULL benefits and never paid a dime into Social security.

[Brookhaven]

“they aren’t even sure how many undocumented students are on their campus...”

Do they know how much each enrolled student costs the state annually?

Calif. is in a huge budget crisis. State schools should care which students are there legally and which aren’t, becuase each additional student places a financial burden on the state.

[radar101]

Your Illegal ALIEN can be blamed for most of this.

[squarebarb]

Another ‘slice-of-life’ lead.

The only things missing is ‘munching’. Usually in these slice-of-life leads somebody is munching something.

[matginzac]

OMG, I read this as I am wearing my official UCLA sweats! Went to the alma mater when in So Cal right after Christmas and didn’t recognize the place - it looks like a friggin’ bus terminal. Couldn’t see Pauley from the street! Now they can’t even figure out who is legal and who isn’t! Have NEVER given $$$ (except for sweats) and never will. CA is going down and going down hard - get out while you still can!

[blue state conservative]

That scarce seat at UCLA could well have otherwise gone to someone like my son, who had a 4.2 GPA and tested in the 99th percentile on his ACT and SAT subject tests. He tested out of his first year of college thanks to AP tests. He now attends a lesser UC campus where he is now a junior with only 1 B+ and the rest A’s. But he didn’t have a sob story to tell on his admission essay—his parents have been married for 22 years and are both American citizens.