Community organizations and New York unions issued a call to Congress and the White House to approve a law that would permit thousands of undocumented students to continue their college education.

The coalition of organizations announced today its campaign to obtain 50,000 signatures from throughout the city. The signatures will be sent to the White House at the end of October.

Mayor Bloomberg also supports the measure with his Immigration Affairs Commissioner Sayu V. Bhojwani speaking for it. Bhojwani stated that a total of 65,000 students in the city, from elementary to university levels, could benefit if the proposal gets a green light.

Bhojwani indicated that the mayor’s office is discussing the proposed law with Congressional legislators who support it.

The proposal would offer conditional residency to undocumented students who have lived in the United States for at least five years before graduating from high school. This would allow them to receive financial aid to continue their education at the college level.

Students who demonstrate good conduct could obtain permanent U.S. residence at the end of their studies.

In New York, according to Bhojwani, there are 3,000 undocumented students in the public university system who benefit from a local law allowing them to pay their fees as if they were legal residents, but who do not receive any economic aid.

She said that another 7,000 students have finished their secondary education and have not been able to continue their schooling because of their immigration status.

Arismendy Ulceta, 20, is one such student. She added her voice to those in favor of the legislation, which has already been introduced in the Senate and House of Representatives. Ulceta came to New York from the Dominican Republic with her parents when she was four years old. However, she has not been able to realize her dream of becoming a computer engineer.

“I studied here since the first grade and even though I finished high school I cannot continue my studies because I don’t have money and I can’t request financial aid,” Ulceta said.

“I feel thwarted. All of my friends continued on to college, they’ve already been at school for a year and I still can’t even get started,” continued Ulceta, who is working at a factory because it is impossible for her to go to school.

The young woman graduated a year ago from high school and cannot legally work in this country.

Ydanis Rodríguez, a teacher at Gregorio Luperón High School in Washington Heights who helps newly arrived Hispanic students, also added her support to the legislation.

“I have a large number of outstanding students but they don’t have papers; I believe that we must help them receive financial aid which will benefit the students and their families but also this country,” she said.

Rodríguez noted that only 12 out of every 100 Hispanics have a university degree. Among Anglos, that number is 40 out of every 100.

“The New York of today demands specialist workers: it is no longer the New York of the past that many of our first immigrants knew,” said Rodríguez.