Maria Ibarra may not be very different from you. She grew up in Michigan, graduated from Fordson High School in Dearborn and is now a senior at the University of Detroit-Mercy. Her mother is a nurse, her father works in construction and her family pays taxes.

Like you, Ibarra believes she is an American. But unlike you, the U.S. government disagrees with her. Instead, the government identifies Ibarra as an undocumented resident. She cannot obtain a driver’s license. She cannot check out books from a public library. Many University students decry high tuition, but her status as an undocumented resident actually prevented her from attending the University of Michigan due to tuition costs.

Ibarra had her “heart set” on attending the University, but undocumented residents — no matter how long they have lived in the state — must pay out-of-state tuition at the University of Michigan.

Ibarra moved to Michigan from Mexico when she was nine years old on a now-expired tourist visa with her mother and her brother. Her father had already been in the United States after crossing the border illegally. Since then, Ibarra said she has lived a life different from what most people perceive the life of an undocumented resident to be.

“I always tell people, ‘I don't think I've led the life of an undocumented student,’ ” she said.

For instance, her family pays taxes with a Taxpayer Identification Number. She lives in the suburbs and her parents are able to support the family financially.

However, when it came time to apply to college, Ibarra said she did not even bother to apply to the University. The undergraduate application for the University asks for citizenship and requires those who identify as U.S. citizens to supply their social security numbers.

Ibarra doesn’t have a social security number. So while her classmates from Fordson qualified for in-state tuition, Ibarra would’ve had to pay double that amount to attend the University.

While many of these undocumented students cannot afford the University's steep out-of-state tuition, there are people in the University who are advocating for them. The Coalition for Tuition Equality, a student group comprising numerous organizations on campus in support of the rights of undocumented residents, was founded by Public Policy junior Kevin Mersol-Barg last year.

According to Mersol-Barg, many undocumented students “came here as children and grew up in Michigan communities here and graduated from Michigan high schools. (They) did not choose to come here.”

Mersol-Barg, who is also a Central Student Government assembly representative and is running for CSG president on the OurMichigan party ticket, said CTE originated from his campaign for LSA assembly representative last year.

“I was looking for a way to help minority students on campus and I think one particularly disadvantaged group are undocumented students,” Mersol-Barg said.

He added that in order to maintain its standing as the “leaders and best” on social issues, the University needs to make its education available to students who deserve it.

“(The University should) make sure that higher education is accessible to all groups, not just the individuals that can pay, but the individuals that need it most,” Mersol-Barg said. “(Those) that clearly are academically qualified, but financial barriers prevent them from coming to the University.”

University spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham wrote in an e-mail that the University remains neutral on the issue.

“The University has not taken a position on that topic,” she wrote. “... Citizenship is not considered during the admissions process, and it is not a factor in the admissions decision."

The debate was almost turned on its head two years ago when the DREAM Act garnered 52 votes in the Senate – eight short of passage. If passed, the DREAM ACT would have granted permanent residence to some undocumented residents who had come to America as minors.

It was around this time that Ibarra came out as an undocumented resident. For most of her life, Ibarra hid her lack of citizenship out of fear.

“Growing up, it was always a secret,” she said. “My parents actually used to tell me, ‘If anybody ever asks you, you were born here. You (are) a U.S. citizen.’ ”

After meeting with One Michigan, an immigrant rights group for young people, she decided it was time to announce her residency status.

Ibarra said members of One Michigan told her that she had to tell her story because someone else would have told it incorrectly.

Mersol-Barg said the problems faced by undocumented students are not simply anecdotal. They affect a large segment of students.

According to a 2007 report from the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education, 65,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S.