Many young people in the United States face unique challenges in the classroom, but for Queens College student Lorena Carino, her problems seem to follow her wherever she goes. Carino, a 19-year-old sophomore, represents one of the millions of undocumented immigrants who enter the U.S. with the hopes of gaining an education and finding a job to make a living for themselves. “My parents came to the U.S. because — like everyone, they wanted a better life for my sister and I. Since in Mexico it was hard to have a good life economically — everything is more expensive and harder to work for in my country,” the…
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Obama’s deferred action, not immigration reform
Francis Madi, 23, graduated from Queens College in spring 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology but continued to work off-the-books at restaurants to pay off her tuition and other bills. Despite her education, Madi cannot work legally in her field of study, thus she depends on working as a server, bartender, restaurant hostess and sometimes a combination of all three, for at least 12 hours a day. Using public transportation, Madi travels for three hours to get to her job in Manhattan from her home. Madi is one of 1.4 million undocumented youth who is eligible to apply for President Barack Obama’s deferred action program and remain in the…