Mexican Immigrant Defied the Odds in Ivy League

Aug. 5, 2010— -- Cinthya Felix and Tam Tran are undocumented immigrants who rose from the ranks of America's public education system to attend graduate schools in the Ivy League.

But perhaps more remarkable than their matriculation to two of the nation's finest private schools is that they pursued their expensive, self-financed degrees without any guarantee they'd lead to jobs in the country they called home.

Felix and Tran died in a tragic car accident in May, shortly after their interview with ABC News. But friends say the duo's desire to defy the odds lingers as an example of the immigrant spirit they say has gone largely unnoticed in American society.

"Their courage, their determination, their spirit were an inspiration to us all," said UCLA professor Kent Wong, who taught the two students as undergraduates.

Tran, an aspiring filmmaker, pursued a Ph.D. in American civilization at Brown University. Felix, who dreamed of being a doctor in her East Los Angeles community, was studying at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

"I always ask myself is it worth it," Felix said of her pursuit of a master's degree in an interview several months before her death. "You can graduate from college with your degree, but your degree isn't worth anything because you don't have a nine-digit [Social Security] number that shows you can work."

She said her seemingly irrational goal was about more than money, however: it was a chance to defy the stereotype of illegal immigrants as "unmotivated and uneducated."

"I knew if I got accepted to an Ivy League school, it's showing the government and people who have anti-immigrant sentiment and all that that, hey, I'm here working really hard and I deserve for them to give me an opportunity because I've been very successful," she said.

Felix was brought to the United States by her Mexican parents as a teenager and grew up in the Los Angeles suburbs, one of an untold number of undocumented immigrant students who have been pressing Congress for a path to legal residency and easier access to higher education.

A number of legislative proposals in both the House and Senate, including the so-called Dream Act, would extend relief to students who arrived in the U.S. as adolescents, completed their degrees and have no criminal record. But election-year political pressures and a packed agenda have so far stalled consideration of the bills.