What is a California election without some good old-fashioned scapegoating?
We Californians are innovators in so many ways: home to the first personal computer, the nation's first recycling program and ground zero for the Americans with Disabilities Act. But we also have this nasty history of exploiting and scapegoating minority groups, like immigrants.
We saw the latter play out this past Black Friday, when conservative legislator, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly (R-Hesperia) played to the shopping crowds by offering them the opportunity to win Target and Best Buy gift cards in exchange for their signatures. He wanted their signatures to put an initiative on the 2012 ballot to overturn AB 131, also known as California's DREAM Act.
The California DREAM Act allows for undocumented students who have attended a California high school for at least three years and graduated from a high school in the state or earned a GED to apply for financial aid. Assemblyman Donnelly's move is audacious in more ways than one. He began collecting signatures in the Central Valley, whose agricultural economy relies on as much as 80% of undocumented labor. It's bad enough that he is scapegoating such a significant part of our economy and our population, but he is also disseminating false information about students who would benefit from the DREAM Act that I hope to dispel here:
1. Donnelly is wrong when he says that undocumented students are taking the financial aid of U.S. American citizens.
In truth there are two provisions in the bill to assure that this does not happen. Section 1, Part B of the bill specifically states that the "number of financial aid awards received by California resident students from financial aid programs administered by the segments shall not be diminished."
Further down in the bill, Section 3 Part C, states that an undocumented student "shall not be eligible for Competitive Cal Grant A and B Awards unless funding remains available after all California students."
2. Donnelly is wrong when he says that AB 131 is costing Californians money at a time the state is broke.
Actually, this bill is an investment for our future. Researchers have estimated that our state faces a deficit of one million college-educated workers by 2025. AB 131 allows us to educate our future doctors, lawyers, scientists, teachers and other needed professionals, right here and right now in our home state.
3. Donnelly is wrong when he says that undocumented students come from families who pay no taxes.
Studies have repeatedly shown that undocumented youth come from tax-paying families that contribute greatly to our state and often do not partake in public services because they don't know that they qualify or are afraid of coming out of the shadows. Households headed by undocumented immigrants in California paid $2.7 billion in state and local taxes in 2010.
4. Donnelly is wrong when he says that withholding financial aid will force these students to return to their home countries.
Actually, the opposite is true. These students are as likely to return to their "home" countries as we are to our ancestors' foreign lands. These students are typically brought to the U.S. by a parent or relative at a young age and have spent more years in the United States than their country of origin. Most likely, they speak better English than their first language, identify as American and are honor students, athletes, student leaders and aspiring professionals like any other student in California.
5. Donnelly is wrong when he says that undocumented students refuse to assimilate.
In contrast to this assertion, a recent study found that today's immigrants, documented and undocumented alike, will not only assimilate into American culture, but their home ownership rates will surpass that of native U.S. Americans. Among the findings, the authors found that while only 25.5 percent of immigrants owned their own homes in 2000, by 2030 70.3 percent are projected to own their own homes, on par or slightly higher than the homeownership rate among the native-born.
At a time when California and the nation face a housing crisis of enormous proportions, now is the time to welcome these young people and their ideas and work ethic with open arms. Shame on Assemblyman Donnelly for scapegoating them.
To learn more about how to attain economic security for all families in the United States, please join me at MomsRising.org.
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http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/03/4096622/initiative-would-give-callifornia.html
Go to StopAB131.com to find where to go to sign repeal petition, now, and how to help push back the tide.
Because of political failure, and desire for cheap exploitable labor, it isn't regulated. Hispanics get a mixed message about whether they are welcome, via lax enforcement and previous amnesties.
All it would take would be to jail illegal employers and highly publisize it, give work visas to those that are here and working, similare measures ... and then start enforcing laws, and highly publisize
it in Hispanic communities and countries.
Distribute information also about the Legal methods of immigrating, promote it in the communities and countries.
their actions should not be rewarded... accepting this dream act rewards them for breaking the laws.
Everyone: Do NOT support the repeal of The Dream Act! Stand up for children's rights! Let them chose their own futures instead of ones decided by their parents and the U.S. government!
But applying to participate in the Dream Act would be equivalent to walking into a police station and declaring "My parent or guardian came into the country illegally AND brought our family"
So of course before a child is allowed to participate the parents are held accountable, correct?
Support the Repeal The Nightmare Act: StopAB131.com.
This just in. Here’s the full article on how it is going to cost $65 Million and WILL HURT Legal California Residents getting financial aid:
http://www.dailycal.org/2011/11/30/dream-act-could-cost-more-than-previously-estimated-according-to-report/
With the heavy recruitment of out-of-state and Foreign Nationals who can pay nearly twice the in-state tuition rate to refund our defunct education system (and who don’t qualify for State aid but still “pay into the system”), Legal Californian Residents and Legal Immigrants will be “priced out” and “placed out” of THEIR American Dream, THEIR higher education.
I think the majority of people their age usually only have to worry about picking a career and having a love life, and I can't imagine what it's like to face the stress these kids face every day. They are so brave, and deserve so much more than the crappy treatment they're receiving from the U.S. right now.
So many other countries already have laws on the books to help migrant kids who are taken advantage of like this by giving them the legal right to citizenship, so they can go on to live sucessful lives. Why has "the land of the free and the home of the brave" stayed quiet?
It's important to remember that the U.S. was one of two countries in the entire United Nations to fail to sign the child's rights bill that would deal with this problem.
please tell me you are not that gullible.
Do you understand what you're arguing against?
The DREAM Act is only for children who had no say in coming here and got stuck. It gives kids who were taken advantage of by their parents' choices the first legal chance to make their own lives.
The parents should be held accountable, but not at the cost of their children's well-being. Yes, the adults broke the law - but these kids are innocent. We cannot treat them as guilty.
For parents to displace these children was wrong, but it's even more wrong for us to turn their lives upside-down again and take the only homes they know away from them. Two wrongs don't make a right.
The U.S. has records of all immigrants and could have deported these children - but it didn't. Our inaction decided that they lived their lives here - and now we have to face our reponsibilties to them. These kids are a product of our past failures. We must treat them fairly - this is a children's rights issue.
We can't legally prosecute minors for decisions their parents made. It's the same situation as parents who use kids to committ other crimes like stealing from a store.
It is humanely and morally wrong to deny these smart, hardworking kids the chance to be happy.
Support the Repeal The Nightmare Act: StopAB131.com.
Illegals ruin every place they go, they are not welcome and they negatively impact americans quality of life. Ruin our schools, help reduce wages. overburden healthcare and increase cost for americans, utilize/abuse public assistance programs designed for americans, overcrowd our prisons and increase the cost of incarceration, the list goes on and on.
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-10-08/us/us_california-dream-act_1_undocumented-immigrant-students-california-dream-act-state-aid?_s=PM:US
If you have the money to attend, colleges can't turn you away (unless you repeatedly fail) - there is NO LIMIT to how many students can attend a public school.
Even if there are limits, it's because of the limited financial support from the U.S. government, which hasrepeatedly made cuts to education for years while prioritzing everything else above education. The real problem you're talking about is lack of educational - which is not related to the DREAM act kids in any way. You need to stop spreading "false hype" to get YOUR agenda across.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/30/local/la-me-budget-tuition-20110630
http://projects.nytimes.com/california-budget
http://www.stopcaliforniadreamact.com/66010.htm
This just in: Ab 131 will now cost $65 Million and WILL HURT Legal Californian Residents in receiving their aid, by the bi-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office:
http://www.dailycal.org/2011/11/30/dream-act-could-cost-more-than-previously-estimated-according-to-report/
I've just read the Assembly floor analysis of AB 131 and the controversial segment, "The number of awards to California Residents will not diminish." is explained in clear language.
http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/asm/ab_0101-0150/ab_131_cfa_20110831_202353_asm_floor.html
"This bill specifically provides that the number of awards received by California residents through campus-administered programs not be diminished as a result of expanding access to these programs to include AB 540 students. While the number of institutional aid awards cannot be diminished, the bill could result in a change in the mix of recipients and a change in the amounts received by students."
This means that the NUMBER of Awards will not diminish, but when AB 131 Illegal Alien Students get into the program, the amount of money or even not being awarded aid to Legal California Resident Students will be affected due to being based on need and not merit.
and the people that NEED the money, can't get it... they can't even work for it...
Lets help the real American citizens first... I'm sure and hopefully all illegal immigrant supporters consider themselves American citizens, rather than Mexican citizens... lets help our own people out first... there's homeless people, there's families that can't afford to frankly lead a comfortable life... seriously, lets focus all of our attention to OUR citizens...
There are CITIZENS that can't afford high priced (overpriced) education... lets help them out... let the Mexican government help their own people out...
It is LOGICAL to help our own first...
Then we have the testimony of a teacher who states that these folks do NOT consider themselves Californians or even Americans, but instead think of themselves as primarily Mexican or other nationalities. They are simply here for the gravy train to steal or take whatever they can. Other studies that have been posted here show that her assertions are false. The fact of the place of your birth DOES matter since it determines what your nationality is and how and who should get benefits. Think that all those who live here should have the right to vote too?
Another time, I asked my son's friend if he was enjoying the World Cup. He said, "Yes!" and talked about several games that Mexico had played. I said, "How about the U.S. team? They are doing very well -- they made it to the quarter finals." He replied, "Oh, I didn't know that. I haven't seen any of the U.S. games." I talked to this boy about how it is great to take pride in the country that his parents emigrated from, but that it is important to also root for the success of whoever represents the United States. This is the country where he lives and will have a future, this is the country that is giving him an education and opportunities. It is important to have allegiance to the United States, too.
Also, many first- and second-generation immigrants respond to questions of nationality based upon their first country or the country of their parents - it's like me telling people I'm German or Norweigan. Am I of that nationality? No - but some people (including me) use nationality terms interchangeably with race terms.
I'm not saying everyone does - but some do. I have studied bilingual education for years and many times, analyzing children (which should not be done without properly licensed IRB certifcation) shows many different responses to questions about heritage, none of which can be assumed as the final end-all determination for all children.
And last time I checked, many nationalities and races were what made America what it is today - we all come from somewhere, and that doesn't make us less American.
[analogy]: it's like going to the movies... most of us have to pay to get in... is it right if some people sneak in for free? and then we (who paid) to get in, have to pay for their concession items? there are legal processes that need to be followed... there are many many reasons for that... its like an elevator... you can only have a max of 300 people in it for a reason...
we already have a population problem in the prisons... those people unfortunately are here mostly legally, but we are obligated to take care of even them b4 we take care of people that don't belong here...
I know for a FACT that If I decided to live at your personal residence, you would call the cops or try to have me booted out of there, no matter how much I promised that I would behave myself and not do anything inapropriate. (which I would). I would even promise to do the laundry and dishes and vacuum if you let me live in your home 'undocumented'. People will tell you that I'm a good guy, and you can also talk to my family.
The Dream Act only focuses on kids who were forced to come here as minors, and who had no choice in the matter. It has rules that makes sure only the best, brightest, most driven of these kids who actually earned to right to be a citizen are considered.
Letting those kids work here would be for the benefit of the country - because we have slipped so far behind in engineering, mathematics and many other areas. We desperately need good, law-abiding citizens who are educated and willing to work - and these kids are the perfect candidates. It doesn't make sense (and it isn't legal) to hold them accountable for their parents' actions.
You have a choice to live anywhere you want, or to commit a crime, or break a law as an adult - these kids were minors and what happened to them was decided by adults (their parents and the U.S.) who were supposed to representing their best interests.
We can't legally prosecute minors for decisions their parents made. It's the same situation as parents who use kids to commit other crimes like stealing from a store.
These kids have decided that they want to become citizens and live legally. That is the purpose of the Dream Act - to make sure they can. They are honors students, not criminals.
Also, with the heavy recruitment of out-of-state and Foreign Nationals who can pay nearly twice the in-state tuition rate to refund our defunct education system, Legal Californian Residents and Legal Immigrants will be “priced out” and “placed out” of THEIR American Dream, THEIR higher education.
And here’s how AB 131 does not help anyone:
http://www.600words.com/2011/10/ca-dream-act-misleads-all-including-its-beneficiaries.html
I ask that any person who thinks its okay for 'undocumented' people stay in this country... please give me your home addresses, so I can live with you for free... I seriously move into your home and live there for free indefinately.
If they were seeking a better life, they could work hard for that in their own nations and do so legally and honestly. That's not what they are doing; they are coming here illegally to freeload off of us and our economy because they are unwilling to do the hard work, make the sacrifices and take the risk of building their own successful society and economy. They aren't coming because they need to come; many in their own nations are as bad off or worse- they are coming because they are just overwhelmingly dishonesty and willing to take what they want at our expense.