Many students will graduate from college in the spring of 2017 and pursue their careers in the fields that they have studied.

But this isn’t a reality for many undocumented immigrant students, like Robert Garcia, a Freshman at Fresno State University, who will also eventually graduate but will be unable to work due to his immigration status in the United States.

I asked Robert Garcia why he thinks so many others like him graduate high school but choose not to attend college.

“What for?” Garcia said. “We can’t work after we graduate.”

Any student, regardless of their immigration status, should be able to earn the right to work and be a productive person in our society after they have earned a college degree.

In addition, by attending college, undocumented students demonstrate positive values about their character as a person and their interest in helping advance our society by becoming educated.

Once undocumented students have graduated from college, they should be guaranteed an opportunity to work or at least have a pathway that offers them an opportunity to work in the field they have studied, just like any other student.

According to StatisticBrain.com, the number of undocumented youths under the age of 18 living in the U.S is 1.8 Million. 65,000 of those undocumented youth graduate every year from U.S High schools , 40% of which live in California, but only 7.5 % of those undocumented high school graduates move forward and attend college.

Undocumented students live in the shadows and when the poverty numbers are so high, it’s hard to cover the cost of college.

It is not only right, but it is our duty as Americans to ensure that higher education is available to any student who chooses to attend college.

After graduating, we should ensure a pathway for undocumented college graduates to be able to work. This would benefit our society because many undocumented students would be able to come out of the shadows.

The 1982 Supreme Court decision in Plyler v Doe guarantees the education of any student in K-12, regardless of immigration status. However, the court’s decision does not extend to higher education, leaving thousands of undocumented students unsure of whether they could legally receive a college education and where they would be able to pay for it.

Since 2001, many states have taken steps to make higher education and the opportunity to work more accessible. The DREAM Act is a state program which has changed state residency requirements to allow undocumented students to pay the same tuition rates as their peers.

The law also defers deportation and allows undocumented students to work for 2-year periods at a time. The DREAM act has become law in several states.

According to Americanprogress.org, 1.4 million undocumented immigrants qualify for the Dream act.

The DREAM act should be enough to guarantee undocumented students are able to work in the field they studied after graduating from college. individuals who have taken the same steps are their

American peers should not be denied the opportunity to work solely based on their immigration status in the U.S. because they meet the same requirements and work just as hard as Every other student.

Most undocumented students were brought to America as children, and if they are responsible enough to avoid trouble with the law and have become model productive citizens of society they should be granted the opportunity to work after college as their American classmates and peers.

Fresno City College has a Dream Center which is available to undocumented students.