HB144 helps U of U student graduate

Courtesy photo/Esperanza Zagal

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Esperanza Zagal

SALT LAKE CITY — Esperanza Zagal graduated on May 3 from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Science degree in anthropology and chemistry.

"Without HB144, I would not have graduated, or even started," said Zagal. "The University of Utah provides a great opportunity for undocumented students who graduate from a Utah high school to attend the university at residents’ tuition cost."

HB144, which the Utah Legislature passed in 2002, allows qualifying undocumented immigrant students to pay in-state tuition while attending Utah universities and colleges; these students do not have to have Utah residency. The Board of Regents makes an exception for them if they present an affidavit that states they attended Utah high schools for three years, graduated or have a GED, and that they promise to file an application to legalize their immigration as soon as they are eligible to do so.

"I am extremely lucky to have attended the U of U," said Zagal. "It has cutting-edge education and research in the areas in which I am interested. The mentorship and support I have found in these departments are awesome. I can truly say I’m glad I did it and I would recommend it to anyone else even though I had originally wanted to go out of state following high school."

Zagal came to the United States from Peru when she was 7 years old with her mother, Maria Crosby, and her younger sister, who was 6. "We didn’t have any money and we had many challenges to face as immigrants with an expired visa after a few months," said Crosby.

Zagal graduated from Judge Memorial Catholic High School in 2006. "Everyone has their struggles that come in different forms – mine came in the form of immigration," said Zagal. "My education has been supported by a vast number of people. In grade school I had very sweet and caring teachers."

Then, at Judge Memorial, Daughter of Charity Sister Stella Maria Zahner sponsored Zagal’s education through the Utah Catholic Schools’ Special Needs Program, she said.

Zagal learned she was undocumented when she wanted to travel to France with her high school French class.

"I thought money was the problem, but my mom explained to me that I simply was not allowed because of immigration," she said. "This was a shock to me and I was highly discouraged. I stopped paying attention in class. This realization was especially difficult when applying to college because I realized I was among a highly contested group of people who were not always welcome and sometimes highly discriminated. Furthermore, my immigration status placed me in a rather ambiguous residency category when it came to admissions. The best fit admissions could find for me was in international, which was a tight financial squeeze. My mom considered selling our house to pay the tuition for some universities I was accepted to, which I found unacceptable."

She received offers of partial tuition scholarships from some institutions, but finally decided to attend the University of Utah, she said.

"I was nervous at the possibility of being deported and I took care to look especially American or tell others I was born in the United States," said Zagal. "Hiding an essential part of me brought out a lot of fear and anxiety that interfered with my studies. I am just recovering from some of this fear and the only thing that has helped me is knowing that God and my family love me, and that I have meaning on earth. Through my experience, I’ve learned the significance of spirituality. God is an essential factor especially to those who feel oppressed, exiled, or convicted. And to be fair, who doesn’t feel that at some point in their life?"