Updated Aug 1, 2012 - 11:01 am
Undocumented immigrants can pursue college online
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PHOENIX -- Critics may cringe, but there is now an online school for young undocumented immigrants who want to pursue higher education.
"It's an immediate solution to young people who want to continue learning," said Petra Falcon with Promise Arizona, which works with immigrant youths.
The project is called National Dream University and it was inspired and mirrored after Freedom University. Created in 2011 in response to Georgia legislation barring undocumented immigrants from going to college, Freedom University consists of a group of professors who offer immigrants a chance at fulfilling their college dream.
"Students are getting motivated, they're having a newfound sense of hope they can go to college," said Alma Castrejon, the project's coordinator.
"If they're not having this opportunity in their home state, they need someone to provide that."
About 35 students will be accepted to take six courses in 2013, on topics including labor history and nonviolence and social movements, Castrejon said.
Anyone interested in immigrant and labor rights can apply whether they have legal status or not.
National Dream University in California is a collaborative effort between the Los Angeles Center for Labor Research and Education, the National Labor College and the University of California.
Sandra Haros , Reporter
