Undocumented siblings embrace opportunities

Without papers, however, their future is uncertain

Nancy Mitchell and Jennifer Miller, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 17, 2005 at midnight

Text size

More Education

They entered the country legally from Mexico, a girl, 15, and her brother, 12, traveling on visas for what they thought was a two-month visit with mom.

But their mother insisted they stay in Denver, and those visas have long since run out. Arlene and her younger brother, Luis, are now illegal U.S. residents.

They face an uncertain future, subject to deportation if discovered, ineligible for most jobs and college aid.

Yet they excel in school, and their mother, Estela, and their five older sisters have sacrificed much for their education.

"Sometimes my mom doesn't have enough to pay the rent. That's when I think I have to drop my classes and help her," says Arlene, 20. "But my sisters tell me, 'Don't leave school, we'll help mom.' "

Rodolfo Gonzalez © News

Luis, a North senior who dreams of becoming an actor, introduces the next performers during auditions in March for the district's annual Shakespeare Festival.

All photography »

Recent news that Estela lost her cleaning job after six years is adding to the family stress. Until last month, she made $6 an hour as a housekeeper.

Arlene, who began learning English at 15, has a 4.0 grade point average at Community College of Denver after graduating from North High School.

Luis, 17, is a senior at North who performs in the bilingual Shakespeare Club and writes for his school paper. He graduates this month and dreams of becoming an actor.

They share a small one-bedroom apartment near North with their mother. Estela and Arlene share a bed; Luis sleeps on a mattress on the living room floor.

Estela refused to let Arlene or Luis work during their school years. Summers, despite their illegal status, they found fast-food jobs.

"For me, the most important thing is their education," says Estela, whose family could not afford to send her to school past the eighth grade.

Arlene and Luis initially struggled with English. And other Hispanic students slurred more recent immigrants, as did a teacher, Luis says. Both say North was academically easier and far less disciplined than their Mexican schools.

Luis, the more outgoing of the two, started ditching class as a sophomore and wound up failing eight classes.

He straightened up after North threatened to expel him.

"That scared me," he says. "I didn't want to be a nothing in my life."

He recently applied to CCD, leaving blank the space for his Social Security number, a common tactic for illegal residents. But the college returned the papers to him.

He is now thinking about returning to Mexico for college.

Arlene, who didn't need a Social Security number because a private foundation paid her nonresident tuition, is in her second year at CCD. Despite her top grades in high school, she had to take remedial English classes at CCD. That means it will take four years instead of two to get her associate degree.

That doesn't discourage Arlene.

"For me, my diploma won't be just my diploma," she says. "It will be like the family's diploma."

Now in her second year at Community College of Denver, Arlene, a graduate of North High School, climbs the stairs at the Auraria campus library to study for a business class. An undocumented U.S. resident, Arlene is ineligible for student aid, but receives help from the private Valverde Family Foundation.

All photography »

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News