President Barack Obama's announcement June 15 that the federal government would loosen deportation regulations for qualifying illegal immigrants is the first step toward comprehensive immigration reform, according to University administration and portions of the student body.
Obama's immigration policy would grant deferred action on a case-by-case basis, halting deportations of young illegal immigrants who would then be granted a renewable two-year work visa.
During the announcement in the Rose Garden, Obama said the measure would be in place until Congress passed the DREAM Act.
The DREAM Act, a measure that would grant conditional permanent citizenship to young illegal immigrants, was first introduced in 2001 in the U.S. House of Representatives. The measure was most recently re-introduced in the U.S. Senate in 2011 after it passed the House but failed to pass the Senate in 2010.
Education outreach and student services Vice President James Rund said the Obama Administration's announcement was a step in the right direction.
"(The resolution) affords our students who are skilled and talented the opportunity to work both while they're in school as well as after they graduate," Rund said. "That's certainly positive."
He said he's confident that a comprehensive immigration reform will begin to take place.
Rund said he "couldn't have been happier" about the president's announcement.
"I was ... personally pleased for many students for whom ... this creates opportunity and higher degrees of confidence," Rund said. "(The resolution) gives them tangible reasons for hope and encouragement."
Graduate student German Cadenas came to the U.S. from Venezuela with his family when he was 15. At the time, Venezuela was host to a national strike against President Hugo Chavez. His family overstayed their visas in the U.S. for fear they would return to a dictatorship in their home country.
Cadenas graduated from high school in Tempe and applied to attend ASU, but was denied admission because of his immigration status and lack of a student visa. Cadenas achieved two associate's degrees from Mesa Community College, and was admitted to ASU after three attempts.
Cadenas was admitted following passage of Arizona Proposition 300 in 2006, which prevented Cadenas from receiving in-state tuition or financial aid. He spent his savings on his junior year of tuition and received a private-funded scholarship called the American Dream Fund, a scholarship for students in a similar situation to Cadenas, which covered his tuition for his senior year.
Cadenas met other students receiving the same scholarship and started to advocate for the DREAM Act, eventually forming the Arizona DREAM Act Coalition in 2009.
"(The students) were all tired of living in the shadows and living in fear," Cadenas said. "We decided to start advocating for ourselves."
Cadenas got into ASU's graduate counseling program after graduating in 2009 with two bachelor's degrees. Following a professor's advice, he moved to the doctoral program. He continued to struggle to fund his education, as he could not get a job, scholarships or grants with his lack of citizenship.
Cadenas got the attention of media and immigrants' rights organizations by fundraising for his tuition, ultimately raising the necessary $25,000 for his first year in the doctoral program.
Cadenas' status was changed to permanent resident after he married a citizen in 2011 whom he met through advocating for immigrants' rights.
He said he was lucky to fix his citizenship in this way, as not all immigrants in his situation would qualify by marrying a citizen.
Cadenas said he continues to advocate for immigrants' rights to give back to the community that gave so much to him.
"There are so many students who are talented and qualified but don't have the access (to education) because of ... immigration status," Cadenas said.
He said Obama's immigration resolution was unexpected.
"This was probably one of the happiest days for me this year, and probably one of the happiest days for me in terms of the immigrants' rights movement," Cadenas said. "It was a long awaited victory."
He said he hopes Congress pays attention to universities like ASU who support passage of the DREAM Act.
"(Universities) are the creators of new jobs, of new academics (and) of new professionals," Cadenas said. "The people (at universities) are the ones who are going to be running the nation in a few years. I hope they take into account not only the administration's point of view, but the students'."
Reach the reporter at dgrobmei@asu.edu Follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook.
