Sunday, January 22, 2006
In-State Tuition for Illegal Immigrants in Massachusetts. The bill proposing this went down by a pretty large margin. My Rep voted for it and has been getting flak from constituents ever since. I say it went down because of a very poor choice of wording. What Massachusetts resident wouldn't get rankled at the thought of illegal immigrants being rewarded with a college education at the expense of the taxpayer? That's what it sounds like the bill would do anyway. The reality though was to help the 500 or so undocumented Massachusetts students out of the quagmire of their legal limbo. These students were brought here to the U.S. at an early by their parents who entered the country illegally -- in other words not of their own volition. So what were they supposed to do? Well, they went to public school is what they did. They studied, played sports, met friends, and dreamed (like their legal resident counterparts) of going to college. But then they hit the wall called You-have-to-pay-out-of-state tuition. This has meant the end of many dreams to pursue higher education and many of the students in question now are at low-paying, dead-end jobs. Keep in mind that these kids can't even begin to do anything about their legal status until age eighteen and unfortunately the process can take years and years. In essence we are punishing these students for the actions of their parents who entered the country illegally -- something the U.S. Supreme court has argued is unlawful.
A study by the Massachusetts Taxpayer's Association has shown that these undocumented kids with a college education will earn about double what those with only a high school education would. Translation: millions of dollars of income tax paid to the Commonwealth. So why not let these legal-limbo students go to college? This is not a liberal versus conservative issue. Even President Bush has embraced the reality that illegal immigrants are here to stay and has proposed that we make it easier to grant temporary visas (all the better to account for who is crossing the border). A well educated and skilled work force is what will keep America competitive and vibrant. So let's next time change the wording of this bill to something that reflects better its intent. Oh I don't know: In-State Tuition for Legal-Limbo Students or something like that....
A study by the Massachusetts Taxpayer's Association has shown that these undocumented kids with a college education will earn about double what those with only a high school education would. Translation: millions of dollars of income tax paid to the Commonwealth. So why not let these legal-limbo students go to college? This is not a liberal versus conservative issue. Even President Bush has embraced the reality that illegal immigrants are here to stay and has proposed that we make it easier to grant temporary visas (all the better to account for who is crossing the border). A well educated and skilled work force is what will keep America competitive and vibrant. So let's next time change the wording of this bill to something that reflects better its intent. Oh I don't know: In-State Tuition for Legal-Limbo Students or something like that....
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