Tens of Thousands of Undocumented Students Poised to Graduate

According to the College Board, more than 65,000 undocumented students who have lived in the United States for at least the past five years will be graduating from high school this Spring. Most of these students who wish to go onto college will find these doors shut thanks to current rules regarding undocumented students.

Roberto G. Gonzales, an assistant professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Washington in Seattle, is leading the charge on behalf of the College Board, saying that the denying students access to college is a humanitarian and civil rights issue in addition to being an economic one. Gonzales takes to task the argument that opening up opportunities for undocumented students will limit opportunities for citizens.

Federal law doesn’t disallow children of illegal aliens to attend college. However, the current status for undocumented college students is often unclear with hurdles being set up which makes it more difficult, if not impossible for students to be admitted. In addition, most states refuse to grant in-state tuition rates for these students citing their illegal entrance into the country as reason to withhold subsidized financing as well as financial aid.

College Board President Gaston Caperton said, “The College Board is working to remove the barriers to a college education for all students. Undocumented students deserve the same chance to go to college and fully participate in our society as other students. The DREAM Act would provide a way for them to fulfill their dreams and legally contribute to U.S. society. We must not turn our backs on these deserving young people.”

Not Everyone Supports the DREAM Act

While the DREAM Act has been introduced and rejected several times, opposition to granting special rights to children of illegal aliens comes from a number of different quarters of society including from a public policy organization called NumbersUSA.  That nonpartisan organization is behind an effort to maintain an environmentally sustainable as well as economically just America.

NumbersUSA opposed the first introduction of the DREAM Act in 2007 and has taken note of the current push to see that legislation is passed by Congress and signed by President Obama to open up the educational opportunities for undocumented students.

Chain Migration and the Competition For Jobs

According to Roy Beck, author, lecturer and executive director of NumbersUSA, opening up the door to these students would work against people born in the United States as well as against naturalized citizens. New grads would compete for already scarce jobs  while opening the door for relatives of these students to also pursue educational and job opportunities in the US (chain migration).

With DREAM amnesty, as many a half-million students would gain entrance to college with perhaps three to six times that number of their relatives allowed entrance into the country. According to Beck, those people would compete with Americans struggling to find work, further exacerbating problems for citizens who are attempting to find work.

DREAM Act proponents believe that an educated undocumented student workforce would benefit the economy, while barriers to education would have an adverse impact on society in the form of lower wage earners and people working below their capabilities.

Sources:

Gonzales, Robert G. “Undocumented Students and the DREAM Act.” College Board 2009 Web.22 Apr 2009. <http://professionals.collegeboard.com/policy-advocacy/diversity/undocumented>.

Beck, Roy. “A Test To Determine If DREAM Amnesty Sponsors Are Serious About Helping Illegal Teens, Or Do They Just Want To Hurt Americans?.” NumbersUSA March 31, 2009 Web.22 Apr 2009. <http://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/beckr/march-30-2009/a-test-to-determine-if-dream-amnesty-sponsors-are-serious-about-helping>.

Adv. — If you have already found the college you want to attend, get prepared to apply to that school in November. Otherwise do an online college search to find the schools of interest to you and print out a Summary Aid Map to help you plan your financial aid strategy.

An appeals court in the state of California ruled earlier this week that a California law intended to permit illegal aliens to attend public colleges and universities at in-state tuition rates is unconstitutional because it conflicts with federal law, and violates both the equal protection clause and privileges and immunity clause of the constitution.

Citing the 1996 Immigration Act which states that “an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State…for any post-secondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit…,” the three judge panel unanimously ruled that illegal aliens may not attend California colleges and universities at a subsidized rate, noting that this benefit isn’t extended to legal American citizens living in other states.

“We believe that Monday’s ruling by the California Court of Appeals is unambiguous and precedent setting,” stated Michael Hethmon, general counsel for Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI). “In their ruling, the judges indicated that federal law preempts not only California’s in-state tuition law, but all such laws across the country.” Currently, nine other states offer in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens.”

Besides California, many other states have been taking up the issue of providing educational assistance for illegal aliens in addition to other public welfare programs. Kris Kobach, senior counsel to the ILRI said, “The decision also makes it clear that federal law preempts many benefits that are being dispensed to illegal aliens that are expressly prohibited under the Welfare Reform Act. In the court’s opinion, citizens have the right to go to court and sue to prevent illegal aliens from benefiting from a whole range of government programs.”

The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) is a public interest law organization working exclusively to protect the legal rights, privileges, and property of U.S. citizens and their communities from injuries and damages caused by unlawful immigration.

(Source: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/)

A recurring illegal immigration nightmare is once again being visited upon the citizens of California — on legal, law-abiding citizens that is.

Pending legislation, commonly known as the “DREAM Act,” would provide a path to legalization for children of illegal aliens by helping them pursue their college education through making them eligible to compete for financial aid opportunities. Twice previously, the California house and senate passed the legislation, but each time Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill.

Proponents of the DREAM Act recognize that many of the children of undocumented workers are, in fact, illegal themselves. However, citing that some were brought to this country as children and have successfully completed their high school education, they reason that these same young people should have access to higher education offered to all residents of the Golden State. Many believe that these children are victims of the decisions of their parents and shouldn’t be punished for the choices their parents made.

Opponents to the DREAM Act are unhappy that the state of California is considering a program that would effectively give amnesty to illegal aliens while possibly denying funding their own children. Known as AB 2083, the California DREAM Act, would require the California State University system and the California Community Colleges to provide financial aid in the form of grants, scholarships, work-study offers, and loans to all qualified students who are exempt from nonresident tuition. The law wouldn’t mandate that the University of California follow suit, instead it would “request” that it would.

If the DREAM Act was to pass, then students must have attended and graduated from a California high school for at least three years in order to be eligble for assistance. Further, all undocumented students would be required to file an affidavit stating that they will file an application to legalize their immigration status or will file such an application as soon as they are legally eligible to do so.

California, with a population of at least 38 million inhabitants, has the largest illegal immigration population of any state in the union. Some have put that figure at 5 million, a number which has put tremendous strain on a state in the form of public education, medical assistance, and other welfare programs.

Gov. Schwarzenegger hasn’t said if he will veto the bill if it lands on his desk once again.

Further Reading

Stop the California Dream Act

Stopping Deportation, One Valedictorian At A Time

Residents of the Tarheel state thought otherwise and made known their disapproval. Last week, the state reversed course with the State Attorney General, Roy Cooper, recommending that undocumented students be prohibited from attending schools within the community college system until federal clarification is obtained.

“We have accepted the Attorney General’s offer to seek federal clarification of this issue, and they are pursing that information,” Scott Ralls, president of the community college system, said in a news release. “Until we receive further clarification, we will no longer admit individuals classified as illegal or undocumented immigrants into curriculum degree programs.”

Out of the nearly 300,000 registered students currently in the community college system only 112 do not have proper documentation. They will be allowed to finish their programs and high school students currently enrolled in community college classes will be allowed to finish their studies as well.

The state’s university system is still considering allowing illegal aliens to attend school and at in-state tuition rates.

(Source: Triangle Business Journal)