Oklahoma Watch: DREAM Act Oklahoma wants to put faces on immigration issue

For others, it represents a first step to open borders and amnesty.

The 10-year-old federal legislative proposal has taken various shapes. But it has kept the key provisions of giving undocumented immigrant youth an application process to residency if they graduate high school and attend college or join the military.

In recent years, the most vocal supporters have been teenagers and college students, calling themselves “Dreamers.”

“I'm a fourth-generation Mexican-American, and my friends who are undocumented depend on me to be their voice,” said Tulsa University student Kasey Hughart, president of DREAM Act Oklahoma.

“Oklahoma is ultra, ultra conservative with our lawmakers regarding this issue,” she said. “We know they are probably going to keep saying no to us, but we want to put faces on this issue ... and let them know we aren't going anywhere.”

About 272 undocumented students are attending Oklahoma's public colleges, according to Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education data. They represent less than one percent of the total enrollment.

DREAM Act Oklahoma, an affiliate of the United We Dream national advocacy network, has members from TU, Oklahoma State University, Rogers State University and Tulsa Community College.

The group works to lobby lawmakers and educate the public about DREAM Act details.

“This is far from an amnesty,” Hughart said. “A student has to be here for five years before the law's passage, graduate high school and have six years of conditional status to get a degree or be in military service. And they have no access to financial aide for this.