Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Janet graduated last year with a 3.8 grade-point average, an education degree and certification in bilingual education. She immediately received 10 job offers from school districts in Denton, Dallas and Grand Prairie.

She couldn't take any of them.

The 24-year-old graduate from the University of North Texas is an illegal immigrant – brought to the U.S. by her parents at the age of 12. She asked that her full name not be used.

"It's really interesting because you know you're qualified [to work]," said the 24-year-old, who arrived in Dallas from Baja California, Mexico, in 1995. "I have everything I need except that Social Security card. And if you don't have that, you don't have anything."

The same is true for Maria, who asked that her real name not be used. She arrived nearly two decades ago from the Mexican state of Guerrero speaking no English.

Though she received her teaching degree in May from Texas Woman's University in Denton, she makes her living under the radar working as a housekeeper.

The women are among more than 7,000 Texas college students and graduates in limbo because of their illegal status. They were able to continue their education thanks to a state law that allowed them to pay in-state tuition. But they cannot enter the workforce as professionals.

Under a U.S. Senate measure to overhaul the nation's immigration system that collapsed earlier this month, they would have been on the fast track to permanent residency.

The bill provided a path to legalization for most of the nation's 12 million illegal immigrants, strengthened border security and increased the penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants. It also included the Dream Act provision, which would have allowed the children of undocumented immigrants to become permanent legal residents if they arrived as children; have maintained a clean record; and are attending college or enlisted in the military for two years.

On Thursday, President Bush endorsed a plan that would lock in money for border security as a way to get support for the bill with conservative lawmakers and a skeptical public. "We're going to show the American people that the promises in this bill will be kept," Mr. Bush said, two days after launching a personal rescue mission.

The bill has been revived and could be debated in the Senate as early as Wednesday.

William Ramos, director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, said the bipartisan agreement has a lot of support and "anything could happen. But because the Dream Act is included in the legislation, if it dies, then everything dies with it."

The Dream Act was first proposed in 2001, but it's never gained any traction.

"The biggest obstacle has always been the House of Representatives," said David Hawkins, director of public policy for the National Association of College Admission Counseling.

Organizations such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform have lobbied against the Dream Act, arguing that the initiative rewards lawbreakers and allows them to be admitted to colleges and universities when U.S. citizens are not getting in.

"If that [illegal immigrant] student is admitted to the University of Texas, another student won't be. Somewhere in the state of Texas there's a student who's worked hard and has not broken the law, but won't be able to get into the university," said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the reform group.

Approval of a comprehensive immigration overhaul would benefit thousands of Texas students who've attended state universities under a state law that allows illegal immigrant students to pay in-state tuition, according to figures from the State Board of Education,

At the University of Texas at Arlington, some 400 students enrolled between 2002 and 2006; at the University of Texas at Dallas, the number was 440; at the University of North Texas, 298; and at TWU, 121.

The immigration overhaul measure also would benefit thousands of students across the country who graduate with four-year degrees, but can't enter the workforce because of their illegal status.

"Every year, some 60,000 students across the country graduate with no realistic options for continuing their education or getting a job and that's a humanitarian problem," Mr. Hawkins said.

Some state representatives, such as Rep. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas, hope that Congress can pass the measure.

"This would give students the ability to work here after completing their education," Mr. Anchía said. "We want to retain educated professionals in this country and hire them."

Dallas schools Superintendent Michael Hinojosa says he's frustrated that with the district's shortage of bilingual teachers, he can't hire available professionals.

"That would really help us solve our shortage problems," Mr. Hinojosa said.

Janet, for example, did her student teaching at Frank Borman Elementary School in Denton, where she worked with a bilingual teacher and children from kindergarten through second grade.

She knew that experience was only temporary and that despite her professional ability, it would be difficult to find a permanent teaching job.

"Everyone I did my student teaching with got a job as soon as they finished," Janet said. "There's not a one that's not working today. I feel bad about that – and not because they wouldn't take me, but because I just couldn't [take the jobs]."

University professors such as Bertha Villegas also are frustrated.

"It's frustrating because they're so highly qualified, certified and perfectly bilingual, bicultural and biliterate," Ms. Villegas said. "They've been bilingual students, and they understand what the students are going through."

Mr. Hinojosa agrees.

"They understand our students, they've had similar experiences, they're a product of the system," he said. "We instilled in them the need for an education and now that they've got an education, they can't do anything with it."

Every year, the DISD has to go to Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica, Panama, Puerto Rico and Mexico to recruit teachers who are bilingual, though not always certified to teach.

"You can be a teacher [in the U.S.] by having any kind of degree in Mexico, even if it has nothing to do with teaching," Janet said. "Why is it that with so many qualified people, we can't do anything?"

Though Mr. Hinojosa may agree, he can't do anything about it.

"I'd rather have them than travel to Chile or Spain or Puerto Rico," he said. "I'd much rather have our students because they know the system, the kids, and they've done everything that was asked of them."

Maria's big day came on May 12, when she crossed the stage in cap and gown to receive her diploma.

It took her six years to complete her studies because she worked her way through college.

The 37-year-old arrived in the U.S. at age 18 and enrolled in English classes in Chicago.

She worked at various factories to support herself. She moved to Dallas in 1999 to be near family and friends.

Once in Dallas, she learned of the law that allowed her to pay in-state tuition and decided to continue her studies, knowing that it could be in vain.

"I knew that this could happen. That was a risk," Maria said. "But it was personal goal for me. I wanted to get that degree."

For now, she'll continue doing housekeeping and child care to cover the cost of going back for her master's degree in play therapy.

"I'm not going to start crying now. I like cleaning houses. I'm not worried," she said. "And I like school. I want to continue my education."

Staff Writer Todd J. Gillman in Washington contributed to this report.