An American Nightmare: The Pursuit of Higher Education for Undocumented Students.

By Liz Medina-Gonzalez

Introduction

For many high-school graduates, living the American dream often includes the pursuit of higher education but for undocumented students this dream is a waking nightmare.^[1] Under current federal law, undocumented children who seek to pursue higher education have few protection against detention and deportation.^[2] For example, the Trump administration has rescinded programs like Special Juvenile Status (SJI), which had granted automatic deferred action and work authorization to children who are "dependent on the court" or "cannot be reunified with one or both parents" due to "abuse, abandonment, neglect, or similar basis under state law."^[3] Additionally, programs like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) were rescinded by the Trump Administration and thus, first-time qualifying applicants will not be granted temporary protection and work authorization.^[4] As such, many undocumented students face immense dangers in choosing the American dream because little protections against removal exist.

Many undocumented students seek opportunity, not domination, of the American job market because their parents brought them to the United States to "[escape] volatile political regimes, civil wars, and poverty.”^[5] For example, Larissa Martinez, a Valedictorian of the 2016 graduating class at McKinney High School, obtained a full ride to Yale and revealed in her speech that she was an "illegal alien."^[6] The pejorative use of the term “illegal alien” for students like Larissa makes them appear like criminals despite "[becoming] a part of the American society and way of life … who yearn to help make America great again."^[7] This article examines the immense barriers which undocumented students face in the pursuit of higher education and the associated fears of both immigration detention and deportation. 

    A.        Barriers to Higher Education

Undocumented children that pursue higher education are treated as a sub-class of persons and face many barriers despite calling America their home.^[8] The Courts have repeatedly held that discrimination based on national origin is prohibited for schools receiving federal funds and such discrimination "violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment" and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.^[9] Moreover, the Department of Education was established to ensure that "educational opportunities [are] not [denied] because of race, creed, color, national origin, or sex."^[10]  In Plyler, the Court emphasized the protection and right to education to "innocent children" and such denial of education would not "[further] some substantial state interest." Thus, Plyler affirmed that undocumented immigrants "have long been recognized as 'persons' under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments."^[11]

Because Plyler does not explicitly apply to students seeking higher education, some states like Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina completely prohibit undocumented students from enrollment “in all or certain public institutions.”^[12]Therefore, the precedent in Plyler has not yet been extended to undocumented students who wish to pursue higher education.^[13] The principle of Plyer should be extended to higher education, particularly as applied to those who came to the United States as minors, and were protected by Plyer for earlier stages of their education.

For example, three law-school students, despite passing the State Bar exam, were initially denied admission because of their undocumented status.^[14] After rigorous legal battles with the State Supreme Court, these students would finally make history as the first undocumented immigrants to become licensed attorneys in Florida, California, and New York.^[15]

In Florida, Godinez-Samperio was initially denied admission into the Florida Bar despite graduating valedictorian of his high school class, graduating from Florida State University College of Law with honors, and passing the Florida Bar exam in 2011.^[16] At only 9 years old, Godinez-Samperio and his parents entered the United States from Mexico with a tourist visa and once their visa expired, he had no other choice but to quickly learn English and acclimate to the American way of life.^[17] On Mach 2014, Godinez-Samperio became the first undocumented immigrant admitted into the Florida Bar after waiting admission working as a paralegal at Gulf Coast Legal Services.^[18]

In California, Sergio Garcia was initially denied admission into the California Bar despite graduating from Cal Northern School of Law, passing the California Bar exam, and the Bar committee's conclusion that he possessed the requisite good moral character.^[19] Sergio was 17 months old when he was brought into the United States without inspection but moved back to Mexico when he was nine years old and reentered the country without inspection at 17 years old, where he has lived continuously.^[20] After a rigorous legal battle with the California State Supreme Court, he made history as the first undocumented immigrant in California to become a licensed attorney.^[21]

Similarly, Cesar Vargas passed the New York Bar Exam in 2012 but due to his legal status he would not be able to become a licensed attorney despite his academic excellence and political support from politicians such as U.S. Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY).^[22] For Cesar Vargas, his dream was to become a Marine but was ineligible due to his status and instead graduated from the University of New York Law School with a 3.8 grade point average.^[23] On February 3, 2016, Cesar Vargas was finally sworn in to practice law in New York after the Court ruled that he should be admitted into the New York State Bar.^[24] His story represents the many legal and social barriers that many undocumented students face in pursuing higher education.

The stories of these three lawyers addresses the many barriers that undocumented students are faced with in pursuit of the American dream. Such treatment is unfair; despite impressive academic achievements, undocumented students are forced to live as a sub-class who are not treated equally. Therefore, the stories of Godinez-Samperio, Sergio Garcia, and Cesar Vargas highlight the difficult obstacles that Plyler sought to overcome in the Court's holding that undocumented students are also persons under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment.^[25]

        B.        Fear of Immigration Detention and Deportation

            Many Americans have experienced running late and being issued a traffic ticket for committing a minor traffic offense but for undocumented students, one traffic stop can turn their American dream into a waking nightmare.^[26]Contrary to the protections of the Sixth Amendment, imprisonment can occur from a simple traffic stop.^[27] For undocumented immigrants, a simple traffic stop can lead to detention and deportation by Immigration Customs Enforcement ("ICE"), which detains “defendants far away from their prosecuting districts, fail[s] to provide detainees with consistent access to phones or other methods of communication, and transfer[s] detainees between different facilities."^[28] Such detention is an example of how undocumented students are treated like criminals.^[29] Many undocumented immigrants are unable to obtain a State driver's license but are required to pay taxes through an ITIN number.^[30] Additionally, unlawful presence in the United States is considered a civil violation, not a criminal offense.^[31] Therefore, the idea that undocumented students are criminals is misleading and reinforces the belief that detention and deportation is justified even for non-criminal offenses.

On May 5, 2025 Dalton State college student Ximena Arias-Cristobal was arrested by ICE and taken to an immigration detention facility after a wrongful traffic stop by the Dalton Police Department for an alleged "improper turn."^[32] Subsequently, on May 8, 2025, Ximena's father, Arias Tovar, was arrested for speeding and driving without a license and taken to the same immigration detention facility as his daughter.^[33] Both Ximena and her father were released on an immigration bond for $1,500, which is the required minimum for any ICE bond, but such release is contingent on an immigration judge's final decision: whether she can remain in the United States or must be removed to a foreign country she has never called home.^[34] As discussed in the introduction, DACA was rescinded by the Trump Administration in 2017 and in 2022 DHS was barred from accepting new applications.^[35] As such, Ximena was barred from seeking protection under DACA despite meeting all the program's eligibility requirements.^[36]

Following the release of Ximena and her father, the Department of Homeland Security stated in a social media post that: ". . . The United States is offering aliens like this father and daughter $1,000 a piece and a free flight to self-deport now. We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return."^[37] This statement, however, undermines the fact that such American dream is not guaranteed by arriving "to the U.S. the right legal way" because U.S. citizens have been arrested by ICE.^[38]  Additionally, foreign students coming on a student visa are entering America the "legal way" but USCIS can remove student visas at any point for "national security purposes."^[39] Thus, many undocumented students face the fear of detention and deportation in the pursuit of higher education.

Conclusion

In a country known for the American dream, undocumented students face dangerous barriers towards the pursuit of higher education. Additionally, many students are unaware of the dangers associated with being undocumented. Without any protections like DACA and automatic deferred action under SJI, many students are faced with tough decisions when choosing between higher education or increased risks of detention and deportation. Thus, in congruence with Plyler, States should value the pursuit of higher education regardless of national origin or undocumented status. 

^[1] Rose C. Villazor, The Undocumented Closet, 92 N.C. L. Rev. 1, 4, n.13 (2013).

^[2] Jared Ryan Anderson, Yearning to be Free: Advancing the Rights of Undocumented Children through the Improvement of the Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) Status Procedure, 16 The Scholar: St. Mary’s L. Rev. on Race and Social Justice, 659, 666 (2014).

^[3]  Special Immigrant Juvenile Classification and Deferred Action, U.S. Citizenship and Immig. Servs. (June 6, 2025), https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual-updates/20250606-SIJDeferredAction.pdf; but see Special Immigrant Juvenile Classification and Deferred Action, U.S. Citizenship and Immig. Servs. (Mar. 7, 2022), https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual-updates/20220307-SIJAndDeferredAction.pdf.

^[4] See Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), U.S. Citizenship and Immig. Servs., https://www.uscis.gov/DACA; Texas v. U.S., 50 F.4th 498, 524 (5th Cir. 2022); but see Dep't of Homeland Sec. v. Regents of the Univ. of Cal., 591 U.S. 1, 30-31 (2020); see alsoHillel R. Smith, Cong. Rsch. Serv., LSB 10625, The Legality of DACA: Recent Litigation Developments (2023).

^[5] Roberto G. Gonzales, Learning to be Illegal: Undocumented Youth and Shifting Legal Contexts in the Transition to Adulthood, American Sociological Review (2011), https://www.asanet.org/wp-content/uploads/savvy/images/journals/docs/pdf/asr/Aug11ASRFeature.pdf.

^[6] Larissa Martinez: “America can be great again without the construction of a wall built on hatred and prejudice”, McKinney Boyd Highschool - 2016, Speakola (June 8, 2016), https://speakola.com/grad/larissa-martinez-mckinney-boyd-high-2016.

^[7] Id.

^[8] Anderson, supra note 2 at 665, n.36 (citing Carola Suárez-Orozco & Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco, Children of Immigration 87 (2001)).

^[9] 42 U.S.C. § 2000d; see also Lau v. Nichols, 414 U.S. 563 (1974) (holding that failure to provide English language instruction to non-English speaking students effectively excluded them from meaningful participation in education programs); Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard Coll., 600 U.S. 180, 181 n.2 (2023) (quoting 42 U. S. C. §2000d).

^[10] See 20 U.S.C. § 3401(2); see also Brown v. Bd. of Educ., 347 U.S. 483 (1954); Miss. Univ. for Women v. Hogan, 458 U.S. 718 (1982).

^[11] Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202, 230 (1982) (quoting Shaugnessy v. Mezei, 345 U.S. 206, 212 (1953)); Wong Wing v. U.S., 163 U.S. 228, 238 (1896); Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 256, 369 (1886).

^[12] Plyler, 457 U.S. at 242; see also Alabama, Higher ED Immigration Portal, https://www.higheredimmigrationportal.org/state/alabama/; Georgia, Higher ED Immigration Portal, https://www.higheredimmigrationportal.org/state/georiga/; South Carolina, Higher ED Immigration Portal, https://www.higheredimmigrationportal.org/state/south-carolina/.

^[13] Gonzales, supra note 5.

^[14] Rose, supra note 1.

^[15] Lorelei Laird, The Dream Bar: Some Children Illegally Living in the States Grow Up to Want to Be Attorneys, A.B.A. (Jan. 1, 2013), https://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/the_dream_bar_some_children_living_in_the_united_states_illegally.

^[16] Jan Pudlow, Are Undocumented Immigrants Eligible for Bar Admission?, The Florida Bar (July 1, 2013), https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-news/are-undocumented-immigrants-eligible-for-bar-admission/; see also Fla. Bd. of Bar Examiners re Question as to Whether Undocumented Immigrants are Eligible for Admission to the Fla. Bar, 134 So. 3d 432, 437-44 (Fla. 2014).

^[17] Pudlow, supra note 16.

^[18] Godinez-Samperio Finally Becomes a Florida Lawyer, The Florida Bar (Dec. 15, 2014), https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-news/godinez-samperio-finally-becomes-a-florida-lawyer/.

^[19] In re Garcia, 315 P.3d 117, 122-30 (Cal. 2014) (holding that “there is no state law or state public policy that would justify precluding undocumented immigrants as a class from obtaining a law license in California”).

^[20] Id. at 122-23.

^[21] Luz Pena, Sergio C. Garcia: CA's 1st Undocumented Immigrant Lawyer Opened Doors for Other Unlicensed Workers, ABC (Sept. 21, 2022), https://abc7news.com/post/sergio-c-garcia-californias-first-undocumented-lawyer-mexican-immigrant-latino-heritage-month/12248320/; see alsoMiranda Leitsinger & Elizabeth Chuck, Calif. High Court Grants Undocumented Immigrant Admission to State Bar, NBC (Jan. 3, 2014), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/calif-high-court-grants-undocumented-immigrant-admission-state-bar-flna2D11840583.

^[22] ABC News, He's Undocumented and He Passed the New York Bar, ABC (Oct. 22, 2012), https://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/undocumented-man-passed-york-bar-exam-applies-lawyer/story?id=17536111.

^[23] Id.

^[24] Alyse Maguire, Cesar Vargas Opened Doors for Dreamers as One of New York's First Undocumented Lawyers, The Muse (June 19, 2020), https://www.themuse.com/advice/cesar-vargas-trailblazer-undocumented-lawyer-immigration; see also Dreamer Cesar Vargas ('11) Joins the New York Bar, CUNY Sch. of Law (Feb. 3, 2016), https://www.law.cuny.edu/newsroom_post/dreamer-cesar-vargas-11-joins-the-new-york-bar/.

^[25] Plyler, 457 U.S. at 210.

^[26] Camilo Montoya-Galvez, Georgia Teen Arrested by ICE Faces Deportation, Despite Dismissed Traffic Charges: “My Life is Here”, CBS (May 14, 2025), https://www.cbsnews.com/news/georgia-teen-ximena-arias-cristobal-arrested-by-ice-faces-deportation/.

^[27] U.S. Const. amend. VI.

^[28] Kerry Martin, Jail By Another Name: ICE Detention of Immigrant Criminal Defendants on Pretrial Release, 25 Mich. J. Race & L. 147, 175 (2020).

^[29] Anderson, supra note 2.

^[30] 6 C.F.R. §  37.21 (a)-(d); see also 26 U.S.C. § 6109(a)(1).

^[31] 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a).

^[32] Montoya-Galvez, supra note 26.

^[33] Daniella Silva, Priya Sridhar and Dan Gallo, Georgia College Student Detained by ICE After Being Wrongly Pulled Over is Granted Bond, NBC (May 21, 2025) https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/georgia-college-student-detained-ice-wrongly-pulled-granted-bond-rcna208057.

^[34] Id.; see also 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a); but see Michael K.T. Tan & Michael Kaufman, Jailing the Immigrant Poor: Hernandez v. Sessions, 21 CUNY L. Rev. 69, 81 (2017).

^[35] See Special Immigrant Juvenile Classification and Deferred Action, supra note 3.

^[36] Silva, supra note 33.

^[37] Homeland Security (@DHSgov), X (May 13, 2025, at 5:00 ET), https://x.com/DHSgov/status/1922415388370854002.

^[38] Gisela Salomon, A U.S. Citizen was Held for Pickup by ICE Despite Proof he was Born in the Country, PBS (Apr. 19, 2025), https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/a-u-s-citizen-was-held-for-pickup-by-ice-despite-proof-he-was-born-in-the-country; see also Jennifer Medina, ‘I’m an American, Bro!: Latinos Report Raids in Which U.S. Citizenship Is Questioned, N.Y. Times (June 15, 2025), https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/15/us/hispanic-americans-raids-citizenship.html; John Dias, Video Allegedly Shows ICE Agents Detaining Hispanic U.S. Citizen on Long Island, CBS (June 12, 2025), https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/ice-detains-us-citizen-long-island-video/; Mekahlo Medina & Missael Soto, Pregnant US Citizen Speaks Out After Being Detained By ICE Agents Searching for Her Husband, NBC (Aug. 7, 2025), https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/pregnant-us-citizen-speaks-out-ice-immigration/3761282/.

^[39] Andy Rose & Caroll Alvarado, More than 500 Student Visas Revoked as the Government Expands Reasons for Deportation, CNN (Apr. 11, 2025), https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/09/us/us-immigration-student-visas-revoked.