There is a quiet energy that surrounds Carolina and Camilla Bortolleto, a set of twins who graduated from Western Connecticut State University and had to work much harder than most to see themselves through college. While their efforts will not benefit themselves, their actions will have a positive effect on students throughout Connecticut.

 “We came here from Brazil when we were nine years old, our parents brought us here with tourist status, and we never left,” said Carolina. “When we were growing up, we knew we were undocumented, but it never mattered, it was not something people talked about. We graduated high school at the top of our class, and we were offered an in-state scholarship from WestConn. When we filled out the applications, we had to check a box saying we were not American citizens, and we found out we had to pay out-of-state tuition. That was so hard, because in my mind, I was a Connecticut resident.”

 Across the country, undocumented students have faced an uncertain future if they were not able to afford very high tuition rates. Unable to qualify for financial aid and forced to pay an out-of-state tuition that is as much as three times more than in-state, these students must somehow find the funding for school by working several jobs.

 In the past, undocumented people were able to find sponsors in the US, but today sponsorships are rare. “Once you are in the country illegally, there is almost no way to gain citizenship. If you go back, it can take ten years to come back to the US,” said Carolina.

 The Bortolleto sisters did some research and found that students from other states formed advocacy groups to support the passing of the bill. The website PasstheDREAM.org explains the purpose of the Act:

“The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act was introduced in the Senate, and the House of Representatives on March 26, 2009. The bill would provide certain undocumented alien students who are of good moral character, graduate from US high schools, arrived in the US as minors, and have been in the country continuously for at least five years, the opportunity to earn conditional permanent residency.”

 When they found that Connecticut did not have a group for Students for a DREAM Act, they formed one themselves. “We didn't know any other undocumented students,” said Carolina, “so we made a FaceBook page and we were able to connect with other students from Danbury and New Haven who wanted to advocate.”

 Her sister said, “We had a “Coming Out” event and we had the other undocumented students share their stories. Then we all went down to DC to lobby for the DREAM Act.”

 After the DREAM Act failed in 2010, the girls refused to give up. “We still wanted to make life easier for other undocumented students,” said Camilla.

 “Here at WestConn, we talked with President Schmotter and told him our stories, and when the In-State Tuition Bill had a public hearing in the Higher Education Committee, he submitted his testimony in favor of it,” said Carolina. “At the hearing, there were eight students who testified in person. That was a lot different than in 2007, when only one person testified.”

 “Some of the legislators said the testimony of the students made all of the difference, because the legislators may not know people who were going through this. Putting a face on these stories made it less political and more personal,” said Carolina.

“There have been a lot of people involved in this, a lot of Social Justice groups, The United Action of Connecticut, religious groups, the Director of the Hispanic Center, Ingrid Alvarez-DiMarzo, also gave testimony.”

The twins have served on the Hispanic Center's Youth Board of Directors so  Alvarez-DiMarzo knows them well. “Those girls got jobs and they put themselves through school, they paid their tuition themselves. These girls are home grown, they have gone to our schools, and they are part of our community.”

Connecticut is now the thirteenth state to pass the DREAM Act. Contrary to the arguments of those who opposed the bill, undocumented people can work and pay taxes in this country if they have an EIN Tax ID number.

 Hafid Dumet is currently studying accounting at WCSU. “I grew up in this educational system, and I always wanted to go to college. When I was graduating high school, the counselors didn't really want to help, but I think things are a little better now. College is so important. My mother is a housekeeper and she was always supportive of my going to college, my whole family was, and it is important to have that support, those mentors.”

 Dumet is passionate about his future in the United States. He said, “I want to be a United States citizen. This is the land of opportunity, and this is a competitive country. If people aren't allowed to go to college, then that is supporting an underclass. I have financed my own education and at some point, I am going to be able to give back to my community.”

 Alvarez-DiMarzo stated that the passing of the DREAM Act will have a profoundly positive effect on Connecticut and Danbury. “Education is important to most peoples and most cultures,” said Alvarez-DiMarzo. “There have been so many obstacles to undocumented students. This is an investment in our residents, and for our citizens. Connecticut has an older population. Many of the young people are leaving and they don't come back, and we need to fill the job market with new blood. This is creating so many opportunities for people to serve our community. This will allow them to become nurses, doctors, even landscape architects; to have a future. They can be professionals and they will be interacting with other professional in businesses throughout Connecticut.”

“The passing of the Act will help students who might not have been able to go to college,” said Camilla. “There are a lot of undocumented students in high school and they may not have been able to see college as an option, and now they can see they can have a future.”

 “Being part of the DREAM Act was empowering,” said Camilla. “Being undocumented feels like you don't have a voice or belong anywhere. Being part of the DREAM Act changes that.”