Bryan Wells
News Reporter

Continued from our last issue … As his junior and senior years of high school approached, Enriquez realized that his future after high school posed a problem. Since he couldn’t apply for federal aid and would be required to pay out-of-state tuition, he would not be able to afford college.
He wanted to be an engineer and work with robotics. He had been on his school’s robotics team and loved it.
“They told me I could make a career of it,” said Enriquez. “I told them ‘sign me up,’ but of course there was more to it than that for me. I didn’t think I would get to be an engineer.”
After he graduated, Enriquez looked into becoming a U.S. citizen and continuing with his education. He heard that if he joined the military he would be able to get his citizenship but learned that was false. He would sooner be deported than allowed to serve in the armed services.
He talked to a citizenship attorney, a lawyer who deals with immigration, to see if he would be able to go to Mexico and then go through the process of becoming a legal citizen. The attorney told him that since he was eighteen and had knowingly lived in the U.S. as an illegal alien, he could be barred from reentering the U.S. for up to 10 years. She went on to say if that were the case, he would have little chance of becoming a U.S. citizen for at least 15 years. He was devastated and unsure of his future.
“I was freaking out,” said Enriquez. “I mean why didn’t I know about this? Most illegals don’t know about this until they’re screwed.”
Enriquez decided that he would work for a year with the hope that he would be able to afford the out-of-state tuition but admitted that he wasn’t too optimistic.
“I was bummed, I didn’t want to dig holes or something like that all my life,” said Enriquez.
As low as Enriquez felt, he apparently didn’t let it affect his demeanor. His personality, he allows, may have been the deciding aspect of his future. He went to one of his younger cousin’s soccer games and was invited to a potluck afterwards held by the parents of the soccer players.
“I had just met these people. My cousin played soccer with their kids and a lot of them were Redlands families but they said there would be Chinese food so I was like yeah I’m there,” said Enriquez.
While at the potluck, the subject of Enriquez’s plans for the future came up. He told them that he wanted to be an engineer but that he could not afford the education. Later a man introduced himself to Enriquez and told him that he was a mechanical engineer and that he owned his own company.
Enriquez visited with the man and eventually told him the main reason as to why he couldn’t continue with his education.
“He just looked at me and said ‘Well hey, let me talk to some people and I’ll give you a call.’ So that night he gave me a call,” Enriquez said.
It was the night before Enriquez’s 19th birthday. On that birthday, Enriquez learned that his college education would be paid for.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present,” said Enriquez.
Enriquez is happy for now he says. He knows however that getting a job as a mechanical engineer after college without a social security number will be very difficult. Despite this he believes something will work out and pointed out how so much had already worked out for him.
“I know a little more now than I did when I was 18,” Enriquez said. “There are a couple of things I can do.”
Enriquez’s younger sister will soon be 18. Since she is a U.S. citizen and an immediate family member of his, she can petition for his citizenship. The petition can still be blocked but Enriquez believes it is his best chance at citizenship.
Barring that, Enriquez said if he gets married to a U.S. citizen, his spouse could also petition for his citizenship though that petition can be rejected as well.
“As soon as my friends knew about that one they were dead set on marrying me off the same week,” Enriquez said while laughing, “I’ve got to get through college, I’ve got no business being married yet.”
Enriquez also mentioned the Dream Act, though with less enthusiasm. The Dream Act is a piece of legislation that would allow people like him to eventually gain citizenship by meeting educational or military requirements. The Dream Act seemed tailor-made for Enriquez’s situation but it was too good to be true. Republican Senators recently filibustered the vote as to whether the act would be included on a defense bill; the act did not receive the 60 votes it needed to be included. Enriquez commented on the Republican’s rejection of the act.
“It gets me down, I came with my dad when I was nine,” said Enriquez, “I can’t help that I’m here illegally but since I am, I’d like to be able to do the best I can. I mean, I consider myself a Republican, just think of all the educated potential voters they’re alienating.”