Freedom House Launches Dream Schools Initiative

“I was asking these questions every day, the answers never were right,” he says. “So, that’s what we hope to do through the Freedom House, give the right answers, provide a guide for undocumented students who have lived here their entire lives to be able to go to college in their home states.”

Sanmaniego is headed to Boston for college. He says Georgia’s immigration policies made it difficult to stay here. A Board of Regents policy bars undocumented students from attending Georgia’s top five public schools. They also have to pay out-of-state tuition rates to attend state colleges.

Samaniego says the  Dream Schools initiative will partner with school districts to offer services for undocumented students interested in college.

Daniela Rodriguez navigated the process on her own. An undocumented sophomore at Armstrong State University, Rodriguez is also the first in her family to go to college.

“I feel like my mother brought me here to the U.S. and I have an opportunity that my brothers and sisters didn’t have because I have everything that I can to go to high school,” she says. “So I feel like I have to do everything I can to make them proud because I have a privilege that they didn’t have.”

Repealing the state’s policy is controversial. When asked about it recently, Gov. Nathan Deal said it would be a  “huge concern” for Georgia citizens.

But some lawmakers think it’s a matter of time before the tide shifts. State Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, attended the Dream Schools launch.

“Every movement for change and progress in this country has had its vanguard-those people who stand out front,” Fort said. “These students are those people, the vanguard of the movement.”

In June, a Fulton County Superior Court Judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging the state’s tuition policy. The case is under appeal.