19-04-2025
I was an undocumented student. I'm going to be a doctor. Keep education a right.
On my way into the hospital recently, a headline caught my eye. It stated that the Tennessee Senate passed a bill that would end the right to education as we know it.
Threatening to challenge a SCOTUS decision from 1982 that guaranteed education to all children, Senate Bill 836 and its accompanying House Bill 793 would ultimately allow schools to limit educational access to students with an undocumented status.
Locking my phone away and walking in to see my patients, it struck me that under this bill I would not be here today.
My family and I immigrated to Middle Tennessee when I was only 3 years old.
Drawn to the state for its natural beauty and warm welcoming community, we decided to make Tennessee our home. Though we were new to the state, Murfreesboro embraced us and made this new land feel like home.
It is here where I learned to read and count and work hard.
It is here where I learned to believe that my life meant something.
It is here where I learned about the American Dream.
Though I was undocumented throughout the entirety of my youth, my teachers never saw a legal status – they saw a boy who was excited to learn.
Although my path after grade school may have been uncertain, they instilled a belief within me that I could forge a way forward.
Together, from kindergarten to high school, we did just that. With their dedication and my perseverance, a path forward began forming before us. Eventually, I gained my citizenship and am now just weeks away from becoming Dr. Gudiño-Rosales, the first physician in my family.
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However, had HB793/SB836 existed when I was a child, we would not have forged that path. I would not have made it through grade school, and I would not be wearing a white coat today.
Sponsors of these bills cite various reasons as justification for this legislation including limited financial resources. Despite their claims, there is no evidence that denying undocumented students access to education would save the state any money.
Instead, as over 20 Tennessee businesses have expressed, barring these students from public schools could cost Tennessee millions in federal funding.
Furthermore, restricting access to education threatens to jeopardize recent gains in student outcomes. These improvements are proof that investing in every child in Tennessee is strategic for the continued excellence of the state. With meaningful support, our students will continue excelling as they become tomorrow's workforce of nurses, educators, and, yes, even doctors.
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That is why as lawmakers continue debating HB793, I urge them to consider the nascent potential of all students but especially the roughly 10,000 undocumented students in Tennessee.
While there is agreement in that a consensus must be reached regarding immigration, this bill unfairly targets the most vulnerable individuals affected by this issue. Undocumented students did not choose their immigration status and should not be forced to bear the brunt of the consequences.
It has been famously coined that education is the great equalizer in our country, and it is a phrase that has undoubtedly held true for me. However, that truth exists only because the Tennessee education system believed in me. Because of their faith, I now get to take care of people when they are most vulnerable and give back to communities in ways they did for me.
Therefore, I ask Tennessee lawmakers to reflect on what we stand for as the Volunteer State and urge them to vote no on HB793. I implore them to leave children out of this immigration issue.
Do not close the doors of educational opportunity for students; keep them open and preserve Tennessee's legacy of strength and hope.
Santiago Gudiño-Rosales, a proud graduate of Central Magnet School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is a senior medical student at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee undocumented students can achieve great success | Opinion
