Student illegal at UCLA wants your money

UCLA

An admitted illegal alien who has been accepted to UCLA is said to be distraught by her inability to collect state and federal financial aid.

The Los Angeles Times glamorized Karina De La Cruz' story in a lengthy article today. The newspaper identifies her by father's surname to protect her from repercussions of leaking her mother's family name.

"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," the Times reports.

UCLA did not inquire about her immigration status when she applied. University officials claim they are looking for the best students, not seeking to enforce immigration law.

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The administration could not offer an estimate of how many illegal aliens currently attend the college – because they aren't sure.

De La Cruz, an 18-year-old native of Mexico, is majoring in psychology. She has no father and no money. She slipped by and barely graduated at in the top 20 percent of her San Pedro High School class.

"UCLA officials acknowledge that some freshmen are admitted for reasons other than their grades and test scores, that some students come from dramatically different backgrounds than many of their peers but show academic promise," the Times reports.

Her family came to the United States in a van when she was only 4 years old. Her mother worked at a fish cannery.

In her entrance essay, De La Cruz told UCLA officials that she had difficulty in elementary school because she didn't know English.

"I could never make sense of the language and only understood half the things people said," she wrote.

According to the report, the average freshman student at UCLA has a 4.22 GPA. De La Cruz had a 3.365 when she applied – and she scored 380 out of a possible 800 on an SAT subject test.

However, she was elated to find that UCLA accepted her in March 2008.

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When she arrived, De La Cruz was required to take a remedial English course. She became discouraged when she could no longer afford her dorm room at the college.

But then the Boys & Girls Club's College Bound program awarded her with a $4,000 scholarship.

The aid didn't end there.

Her scholarship increased to $10,680 when Boys & Girls Club Director Mike Lansing held a fundraiser in her honor.

But she is still struggling to pay tuition since she is not legally allowed to collect state and federal financial aid.

"I'm feeling all poor," De La Cruz said after she rode a bus past a BMW dealership on her way to school.

"Weeks of riding the bus and struggling through classes had taken its toll," the Times reported. "As she rattled north toward campus, De La Cruz realized that her chances of getting a job as a psychologist were tiny even if she were to graduate with a B average because she probably can't afford graduate school and most companies won't hire illegal immigrants."

"I guess I'm going to have to put my diploma up on the wall and that'll be all," she said.