Every day, Vanessa N\u00fa\u00f1ez anxiously waits for the mail.<\/p>\n
Since Oct. 30, N\u00fa\u00f1ez, a mechanical engineering major at The Honors College at North Campus, has been waiting for a letter of deportation that will send her back to Venezuela.<\/p>\n
N\u00fa\u00f1ez, her mom and her sister arrived in the United States from Venezuela on Oct. 5, 2003 on a tourist visa. They remained in the country after the visa expired.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a kid when I left, so basically I thought it was all good,\u201d said N\u00fa\u00f1ez, 21. \u201cWhen I got here and grew up and saw how life was over there, there\u2019s basically no comparison to my life here. I am getting an education and over there, I wouldn\u2019t have been able to.\u201d<\/p>\n
This month, N\u00fa\u00f1ez got some news that could affect her status.<\/p>\n
On Dec. 8, the House of Representatives approved the DREAM Act, a piece of bipartisan legislation that gives undocumented students the opportunity to earn a pathway to citizenship by completing two years of military service or higher education.<\/p>\n
Later this month, the Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe, if I have to leave, my life will be filled with continuous fear of being assaulted, robbed, killed and I would be devastated to cut my studies short,\u201d N\u00fa\u00f1ez said.<\/p>\n
This is not N\u00fa\u00f1ez\u2019s first attempt at becoming a legal United States resident. In 2006, N\u00fa\u00f1ez and her family filed for political asylum, requesting the right to seek shelter in another country for fear of persecution.Her request was denied.<\/p>\n
N\u00fa\u00f1ez decided to take action by taking her case to court; in November 2007, it was negated.<\/p>\n
She filed an appeal; it was refused in August 2009.<\/p>\n
Despite the constant rejection, N\u00fa\u00f1ez didn\u2019t give up. She filed a motion to reconsider, and in March 2010, her motion was rejected again.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 13, 2010, N\u00fa\u00f1ez\u2019s request to reopen her case was refused. Felipe Matos, one of the four MDC alumni that participated in the Trail of Dreams, a 500-mile walk from Miami to Washington D.C. to support the DREAM Act, faced the same situation several years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love that Vanessa has stepped up and told her story,\u201d Matos said. \u201cStudents shouldn\u2019t have to fear deportation.\u201d<\/p>\n
N\u00fa\u00f1ez said the anxiety of not knowing keeps her incessantly paranoid.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s gotten to the point where every time there\u2019s a knock on the door, I freak,\u201d N\u00fa\u00f1ez said. \u201cI tell my parents to look through the hole and make sure they know who\u2019s knocking.\u201d<\/p>\n
N\u00fa\u00f1ez\u2019s story has gained a lot of publicity. Her story has been published in El Pais de Espa\u00f1a<\/em>and on television shows such as Primer Impacto<\/em> and Swiss TV<\/em>.<\/p>\n The stress of the case has not affected her academic endeavors. N\u00fa\u00f1ez has a 3.88 grade point average, is vice president of the Youth Environmental Sustainability Club, an active member of Students Working for Equal Rights, a member of Phi Theta Kappa and part of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.<\/p>\n Stephanie Wall, 19, a psychology major and core leader of SWER at North Campus, has offered support to N\u00fa\u00f1ez.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the system is unfair,\u201d Wall said. \u201cThe fact that a student, like Vanessa, a student that works hard, wants to succeed and give back to the community, is not given the chance because of a broken immigration system.\u201d<\/p>\n N\u00fa\u00f1ez remains hopeful for a favorable outcome in her case.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what awaits me but I would be more than devastated if I am forced to leave my family, friends, studies and this place I call home,\u201d N\u00fa\u00f1ez said. \u201cAfter all, home is where the heart is, and my heart is here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every day, Vanessa N\u00fa\u00f1ez anxiously waits for the mail. Since Oct. 30, N\u00fa\u00f1ez, a mechanical engineering major at The Honors College at North Campus, has been waiting for a letter of deportation that will send her back to Venezuela. N\u00fa\u00f1ez, her mom and her sister arrived in the United States from Venezuela on Oct. 5, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":363,"featured_media":7736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7735","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\n