Carranza, whose first name is short for Maria Teresa, can't afford school without her scholarship. She worries that she might have to drop out if the Utah Legislature repeals a law allowing undocumented immigrants who graduate from Utah high schools to pay in-state tuition. Lawmakers will debate the issue in the 2006 legislative session.

During the 2003-04 school year, 117 students took advantage of the tuition law, totaling nearly $300,000 in reduced education costs.

Alex Segura, who heads the Utah Minuteman Project, says he too has compassion for children whose parents illegally came to the United States, but he then recites a list of objections. The bottom line is, illegal immigrants reap benefits meant for U.S. citizens. In-state college tuition falls in that category for him.

"It discriminates against U.S. citizens. It excludes anyone who's in the country legally. It's unfair. In itself, it's a form of segregation," he said.

In Segura's opinion, the Legislature is sure to repeal the in-state tuition law, a decision with which a majority of Utahns would disagree.

A Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll showed 60 percent think undocumented students should be allowed to pay resident tuition. Thirty-seven percent think they should not.

Carranza fears a repeal could greatly devalue her scholarship, shifting the financial burden on her. A job would be her only option for staying in school.

She would have to work for a low-paying employer who overlooks her lack of a Social Security number. She has already been turned down for several jobs and internships due to her illegal status. She also couldn't tour an FBI office with a school group for security reasons.

Carranza is not a spy or a terrorist. She didn't sneak across the border. She came to the United States legally. Her father owned a successful T-shirt design business that supplied retailers on the tourist-filled Acapulco beaches.

The Carranza family — father, mother and three children — went to California for a planned two-month vacation. Each had a travel visa— adults good for 10 years, children for five. The two months stretched to a year, then to five and now 10. The parents separated in 2000. The mother moved to Utah with the children to be with relatives.

Their visas expired. The father has U.S. citizenship but lives in Mexico. The mother has a Social Security number. The three children have neither.

The family paid a lawyer $10,000 to help them gain permanent residency during a three-year amnesty period that expired in 1997. The attorney didn't fill out the forms properly, and they were returned. She then absconded with the Carranzas' money.

Citizenship, or the lack thereof, was not an issue for Carranza in high school. No one ever asked, and she only told two people.