Issue Date: 5/11/09
Financial aid for illegal immigrants
Is college education a fundamental right to all Americans or just a privilege?
Pro
Mark Notarian
With a special election coming up May 19 we are told on a daily basis California is running out of money. The state assembly and Senate are cutting programs and funding. In turn the college system is raising tuition, cutting classes and cutting back on admissions.
On the surface the idea of adding benefits to non-citizens seems unwise and unfair to legal residents. A recent study showed that undocumented workers and their families are receiving 28 times more in benefits than they are paying in taxes. But we can't blame the undocumented for the economic problems brought on by their presence.
The undocumented are here because employers are enjoying the benefits of cheap labor. The employers see this underground work force not only as an exploitable labor pool but a reason to keep wages down for everyone and thus keep profits high. The hope of a better life attracts an expanding group of economic refugees, but they are unskilled and poorly educated.
Unable to financially add enough to the tax base to cover their combined cost to the state the financial numbers on the undocumented cannot be argued with. For some the solution would be mass deportation. Frankly, I am very uncomfortable with the idea of the government rounding up millions of people in the middle of the night, herding them on to buses and shipping them across the border. The whole idea just seems un-American and really short sighted.
I prefer the tried and true method of success via education. The DREAM Act offers financial aid benefits to academically qualified students. Education is the best investment any government can make for future revenue and the numbers are simple. Educated people make more money, people who make more money pay more taxes and when formally poor people pay more taxes the tax base grows and the need for aid decreases.
For every dollar in financial aid the government gets $50 back. We should not be withholding aid from any qualified student. We should come together as students and demand the state do the right thing for everyone.
Con
Pat Cubel
Illegal is illegal and a criminal is a criminal.
Let's not confuse a college education with amnesty programs or absolution.
Children of illegal immigrants are allowed to legally attend public schools that offer K-12-so what? Education is wonderful for anyone whether they are a citizen or not. Education for citizens should be the first priority in the U.S.
The College Board, which is comprised of approximately 5,000 schools and is known for the SAT college admission tests, released a report that cited a need for federal legislation that would open up in-state tuition fees, financial aid and legal status to many illegal immigrants living in the U.S.
The DREAM Act, a piece of proposed federal legislation introduced to the Senate in 2001 and reintroduced this March, offers children of illegal immigrants an opportunity to apply to the Homeland Security Department for conditional legal status after graduating from high school, as long as they were under the age of 15 when they arrived in the United States and have resided here for five years.
Such legal status would make immigrants eligible for in-state college tuition rates and some forms of federal financial aid.
If they attend college for two years or participate in military service for at least two years the immigrants would qualify for permanent legal residency and ultimately citizenship.
Is the DREAM Act really about education or is it another way to grant amnesty for a criminal act?
It's not the children's fault that their parents immigrated here illegally, but until that student can make things right for themselves with the federal government then they should not receive any other benefits.
The parents of these kids realize that they have nothing to gain and nowhere to go by living in the country of their origin.
They want something better for themselves and for their children, but the DREAM Act that is on the floor in the United States Congress is a very thinly disguised attempt at amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Some people interpret the Constitution's famous lines, "All men are created equal… with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," to mean that all people residing in the United States should have equal rights.
This would lead people to thinking that a college education should be available to all equally. But that doesn't make college an afforded right.
We already have a public education system that is over-burdened. With the larger class sizes and costs associated with educating illegal immigrants, why do we need to do this to colleges, too?
California colleges are in tough times because of state budgets cuts and a $40 billion deficit that has resulted in increased taxes.
We have seen positions eliminated after a professor retires, we have had courses cut and fees increased in an effort to save and raise money. This makes it more difficult for everyone of us to reach our goals.
Our federal government is trying to get on top of budget gap in the trillions of dollars and is in the middle of recession that is quickly becoming a depression.
With the economy in the tank, taxes being raised to fund basic government services, where are they going to find the money to help fund college educations for illegal immigrants?
According to the financial aid office at Palomar College there are already programs in place that allow these children the opportunity to receive financial aid and attend college.
The only difference that I can see is that the current programs don't allow these students amnesty for their illegal status in the U.S.
The College Board cites that many of these illegal immigrant children are valedictorians of their high school classes, athletes and class leaders and they have a right and need for college educations.
Every person should be allowed to attend college, but college is a privilege, not a right.
These students need to apply for help through the federal government and become legal citizens of the U.S.
When they do, more opportunities will open for them.
Mark Notarian
With a special election coming up May 19 we are told on a daily basis California is running out of money. The state assembly and Senate are cutting programs and funding. In turn the college system is raising tuition, cutting classes and cutting back on admissions.
On the surface the idea of adding benefits to non-citizens seems unwise and unfair to legal residents. A recent study showed that undocumented workers and their families are receiving 28 times more in benefits than they are paying in taxes. But we can't blame the undocumented for the economic problems brought on by their presence.
The undocumented are here because employers are enjoying the benefits of cheap labor. The employers see this underground work force not only as an exploitable labor pool but a reason to keep wages down for everyone and thus keep profits high. The hope of a better life attracts an expanding group of economic refugees, but they are unskilled and poorly educated.
Unable to financially add enough to the tax base to cover their combined cost to the state the financial numbers on the undocumented cannot be argued with. For some the solution would be mass deportation. Frankly, I am very uncomfortable with the idea of the government rounding up millions of people in the middle of the night, herding them on to buses and shipping them across the border. The whole idea just seems un-American and really short sighted.
I prefer the tried and true method of success via education. The DREAM Act offers financial aid benefits to academically qualified students. Education is the best investment any government can make for future revenue and the numbers are simple. Educated people make more money, people who make more money pay more taxes and when formally poor people pay more taxes the tax base grows and the need for aid decreases.
For every dollar in financial aid the government gets $50 back. We should not be withholding aid from any qualified student. We should come together as students and demand the state do the right thing for everyone.
Con
Pat Cubel
Illegal is illegal and a criminal is a criminal.
Let's not confuse a college education with amnesty programs or absolution.
Children of illegal immigrants are allowed to legally attend public schools that offer K-12-so what? Education is wonderful for anyone whether they are a citizen or not. Education for citizens should be the first priority in the U.S.
The College Board, which is comprised of approximately 5,000 schools and is known for the SAT college admission tests, released a report that cited a need for federal legislation that would open up in-state tuition fees, financial aid and legal status to many illegal immigrants living in the U.S.
The DREAM Act, a piece of proposed federal legislation introduced to the Senate in 2001 and reintroduced this March, offers children of illegal immigrants an opportunity to apply to the Homeland Security Department for conditional legal status after graduating from high school, as long as they were under the age of 15 when they arrived in the United States and have resided here for five years.
Such legal status would make immigrants eligible for in-state college tuition rates and some forms of federal financial aid.
If they attend college for two years or participate in military service for at least two years the immigrants would qualify for permanent legal residency and ultimately citizenship.
Is the DREAM Act really about education or is it another way to grant amnesty for a criminal act?
It's not the children's fault that their parents immigrated here illegally, but until that student can make things right for themselves with the federal government then they should not receive any other benefits.
The parents of these kids realize that they have nothing to gain and nowhere to go by living in the country of their origin.
They want something better for themselves and for their children, but the DREAM Act that is on the floor in the United States Congress is a very thinly disguised attempt at amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Some people interpret the Constitution's famous lines, "All men are created equal… with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," to mean that all people residing in the United States should have equal rights.
This would lead people to thinking that a college education should be available to all equally. But that doesn't make college an afforded right.
We already have a public education system that is over-burdened. With the larger class sizes and costs associated with educating illegal immigrants, why do we need to do this to colleges, too?
California colleges are in tough times because of state budgets cuts and a $40 billion deficit that has resulted in increased taxes.
We have seen positions eliminated after a professor retires, we have had courses cut and fees increased in an effort to save and raise money. This makes it more difficult for everyone of us to reach our goals.
Our federal government is trying to get on top of budget gap in the trillions of dollars and is in the middle of recession that is quickly becoming a depression.
With the economy in the tank, taxes being raised to fund basic government services, where are they going to find the money to help fund college educations for illegal immigrants?
According to the financial aid office at Palomar College there are already programs in place that allow these children the opportunity to receive financial aid and attend college.
The only difference that I can see is that the current programs don't allow these students amnesty for their illegal status in the U.S.
The College Board cites that many of these illegal immigrant children are valedictorians of their high school classes, athletes and class leaders and they have a right and need for college educations.
Every person should be allowed to attend college, but college is a privilege, not a right.
These students need to apply for help through the federal government and become legal citizens of the U.S.
When they do, more opportunities will open for them.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
celia
posted 8/09/09 @ 2:16 PM PST
pat, do you realize that undocumented minors cannot apply for naturalization unless they have a legal parent sponsor. in other words, these undocumented students have virtually no way to become citizens. (Continued…)
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