June 27th, 2008
Taking Care of Our Own
One of the main dilemmas among college and university admissions personnel is how to handle students who are undocumented citizens (“illegal immigrants”). These students have made it through the public education system and graduated high school – and now, just like all of their classmates, they’re applying to college. Should the government have the power to require university admissions staff to report these students to the Dpt of Homeland Security for deportation?
These students usually entered the country when they were very young – their parents came to U.S. and just brought their family with them. You might be surprised to learn, too, that many of these students have tried to apply for legal citizenship – but the INS paperwork takes years to process. So they might be able to get a social security number so they can legally work, pay taxes, have a checking account, etc. But they still can’t apply for federal financial aid or grants because they’re not citizens – and they always run the fearful risk of getting deported to a country they barely remember and haven’t been to since they were in elementary school.
You may have noticed that these teenagers and twenty-somethings are a big discussion among the immigration policy debate among the presidential candidates. Even McCain mentions the mystery of how to handle these folks who were brought here as young children but still deserve to have an education.
And, let’s face it, we all know that providing higher education leads to a stronger, more successful country. Why wouldn’t we want to provide it to over 9 million people who’ve lived here for most of their lives?
I think the problem here is this idea: “still deserve to have an education.” Deserve? Because they attended k-12 while residing in this country illegally they earn the right to enroll and ignore applicable laws? That doesn’t make any sense to me. I’m all for an amended INS policy to address fast-tracking citizen status of minor children of illegal immigrants, but this is an immigration issue, not an education issue.
Comment by revjv — July 1, 2008 @ 12:25 pm
I agree that this is an immigration issue. The INS should re-visit its policy toward immigrants and citizenship, especially for those who have been in the country for a certain period of time (5 years? 10 years?).
Although I hate “quick-fixes,” here’s one for you:
If a student, documented or not, possesses a high school diploma from a U.S. high school and can prove that he/she (or his/her parents) pays taxes, then they should be eligible for college admission and financial aid.
Comment by Peach Pit — July 1, 2008 @ 2:32 pm