I'm glad that illegal immigrants won't be denied the right to education. Even though they are ILLEGAL immigrants I'd rather have a group of educated people contributing to the economy rather than a bunch of uneducated ruffians starting crime in the future. People tend to not look at the big picture in the long run.
I don't like the constant use of illegal in the discourse or this article, and I do have to point out that most of the students who will benefit from this act came here as babies and children and although they are undocumented, many of them consider America the only home they have. I have worked with many students in NYC who would benefit from such an act in this state, and their education has been absolutely stunted and curtailed due to their status through no fault of their own.
A lot of these "illegal" immigrants who will benefit from the Dream Act came to the United States as children, toddlers and babies. These people are not "illegal". They came with their parents, who entered the country without documentation. Many times, they may not even realize they are not U.S. citizens until it's time to go to school, or get a driver's license or go to college.
And undocumented workers/people already contribute far more to the local, state and federal economy than most people are willing to give them credit for.
Also, at least in my experience with undocumented students, many of them are terrified of trying to get residency/citizenship on their own for fear that their parents will be deported in the process, so instead they opt not to continue their education to keep their parents safe.
Or oftentimes they are aware of their status from a young age and have a bleak outlook on their future, so they don't try as hard, cut class, and eventually drop out, because they don't see the point in continuing when they know they will not be able to get aid or they will be unable to go through the steps (acquiring valid ID, etc) to go to school. And really, I can't blame them in this xenophobic climate.
"Therefore, for every dollar awarded to an undocumented student from that pot of money, a dollar would have to be taken away from a citizen or a legal immigrant," Smyth said. "I believe that is wrong.”
Because white students are OWED that money, herp derp.
I live in California, in Kern County to be precise, and I don't equate "citizen or legal immigrant" with "white". I doubt there are many who actually live here who would.
You can't give illegal immigrants money, then wonder why more and more keep coming. Well, I guess I know the final destination of all of them leaving the other states with stricter immigration laws.
And I thought California was broke? And didn't they relatively recently raise tuition at the UC's? That means that aid money should be going to kids legally in the country first.
I feel kind of weird about this. I'm a Texan, where we've had a dream act for some time. I'm extremely liberal, and really do support illegal immigrants being able to attend state universities. However, I don't think that state funds should go to illegal immigrants, especially because of our shitty economy right now. Maybe that makes me seem like a terrible person, but I think that an illegal immigrant should have to pay the full tuition.
Except they can't, and you are basically relegating those students to a life of poverty and menial jobs, or crime and gangs. Maybe it's not a responsibility we "have to" have, trying to bring these kids up so they can achieve and be part of an educated population, but these kids are basically American. They are not going to go back to their countries (or they might but they will come back because they are Americanized; heck, my father came here when he was 29 illegally and tried to go back once he was able to get asylum--long story--and he just could not acclimate anymore). We need to embrace them as part of the tapestry of our country, because even though we don't "have" to, we should...these kids aren't going anywhere, and it behooves us to help them become educated for a vast variety of reasons.
You realize that denying a person the ability to improve themselves means they suffer economically? And our biggest problem is the demand side of the economy right now. People have no money.
So, cutting education and denying anyone the ability to make themselves more economically viable makes no sense to me, and it really shocks me to see a so-called very liberal person applying this "bad economy" reasoning to punish people who need the help the most.
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A lot of these "illegal" immigrants who will benefit from the Dream Act came to the United States as children, toddlers and babies. These people are not "illegal". They came with their parents, who entered the country without documentation. Many times, they may not even realize they are not U.S. citizens until it's time to go to school, or get a driver's license or go to college.
And undocumented workers/people already contribute far more to the local, state and federal economy than most people are willing to give them credit for.
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Or oftentimes they are aware of their status from a young age and have a bleak outlook on their future, so they don't try as hard, cut class, and eventually drop out, because they don't see the point in continuing when they know they will not be able to get aid or they will be unable to go through the steps (acquiring valid ID, etc) to go to school. And really, I can't blame them in this xenophobic climate.
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Because white students are OWED that money, herp derp.
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And I thought California was broke? And didn't they relatively recently raise tuition at the UC's? That means that aid money should be going to kids legally in the country first.
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So, cutting education and denying anyone the ability to make themselves more economically viable makes no sense to me, and it really shocks me to see a so-called very liberal person applying this "bad economy" reasoning to punish people who need the help the most.
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