As the former chancellor of Washington D.C. Public schools, I saw students study hard, do well in school and go on to graduate. But with diplomas in hand and caps in the air, some of these teens had their hopes dashed by a single form -- the FAFSA. That's the document students fill out to secure college loans. It requires a social security number -- something children brought here without the proper legal documentation don't have.
These are kids who have done everything we've asked of them -- stayed out of trouble, went to school, set their sights on college and careers, and excelled. However, they can't pursue their dreams, because of decisions made by others and a system that is broken.
I started StudentsFirst because we have to change the way we approach education policy. For too long we've put the competing interests of the "grown-ups" -- unions, administrators, school boards -- at the center of our education policy. No one won, and students lost. We need to change that approach and do what's right for our kids, not the adults. That's why I support various reforms to improve teacher quality. And that's why I am supporting the DREAM Act.
The legislation pending in Congress would put undocumented children already in the U. S. and who have done what's been asked of them on a path toward legal status if they go to college or serve in the military. The bill, which has been debated for years and which appears to be gaining new momentum, would allow these driven young people to be eligible for student loans and work-study programs.
Immigration is not my area of expertise, but I do know it makes no sense for us to educate these children, see them succeed academically, and then send them packing. It's estimated that by 2020, this country will have 120 million highly skilled jobs but only 50 million workers qualified to fill them. Putting these talented Americans on a path toward citizenship is not only the right thing to do -- it's the smart thing to do.
I recently participated in a panel discussion on ABC This Week with Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, who has said he was brought here illegally as a boy. Jose talked movingly about having to hide the truth and about being aided by educators and employers. No child should have to live in the shadows or lie about their background, and no educator or mentor should have to cover up for a student or employee.
We have chance to do what's right for our students and for our country with the DREAM Act. These young people were raised in America with American hopes and dreams. It's the country they know, and the country they love. It's the country that needs their talents. Let's find a way to do what's best for them and for our country. Let's pass the DREAM act.
Follow Michelle Rhee on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@m_rhee
I took think it's a tragedy that we provide illegal aliens with k-12 educations, only to see their dreams dashed upon graduation from high school.
Let's stop providing them with k-12 educations.
I also disagree with your other point--I am not at all bothered about well-educated illegals going back to their countries of origin--let them go there and build up their economies and standards of living--then we will get fewer illegals. Everyone wins.
"Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has issued a statement highlighing 10 things Americans need to know about the newly introduced DREAM Act. On Tuesday, the Senate Immigration Subcommittee held its first ever hearing on the DREAM Act, but few Senators were in attendance because of conflicts with other committee meetings and votes on the Senate floor."
http://borderissues.us/2011/07/04/sen-sessions-new-dream-act-is-worse-than-before/
I keep reading the same BS talking points about undocumented immigrants cutting into some kind of "line", taking up benefits and jobs that should go to "legal immigrants", etc. The fact is that none of those talking points are even remotely close to the truth.
Some of you would do yourselves a great service by visiting some of the non-partisan immigration think-tanks, for example http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/
Having two lines of immigration, one legal, one illegal but pushing to pass laws to cover those wrongs even though there are existing laws violates the constitution, 14th. Before you say they are babies, give the readers one legal case where the children or babies are able to keep the benefits of their parents' wrong doing.
Start now & move to either Utah, New Mexico, or Washington
All three states offer in-state tuition for college
All three states grant valid Driver's Licenses to illegals
Utah, even has a new "guest worker" program for workers w/o SSNs for a mear $2,500 fee
It's no longer uncommon to hear false or distorted statistics and half-truths coming from more mainstream groups like FAIR,( Federation for American Immigration Reform,) and The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, and aired on innumerable radio talk shows and major cable programs like the Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor."
Very few of the current roster of negative stereotypes — not to mention the conspiracy theories about immigration that are also increasingly widespread — contain any truth at all.
Today in an even more poisonous atmosphere, millions of Americans apparently believe the lies touted by nativist extremists. What follows is an attempt to distinguish demonizing propaganda from reality.
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2007/summer/paranoid-style-redux/getting-immigrat
This is their secret: It's not about when they become citizens, it's about when they are in the US.
Which person would you want to be?
Person 1: Lives inside US now, won't get citizenship until 20, 30 or 40 years later.
Person 2: Legally waiting in the immigration line outside of US, won't be able to get in until after 10 years.
Couple of hints: if you are here now, you can take advantage of our HISTORICALLY low mortgage rates, potentially save thousands of dollars; if you are dirt poor, you can find a dollar on the streets and go buy a lottery ticket, if you are not physically in the US, you can't do any of that, and I don't know about those nice mortgage rate or the lottery system in 10 years, i'm not a gambler.
This led me to explore the possibility that Dream Act might not be constitutional, think 14th amendment.
Fact: DREAM Act students do not compete for visas with other applicants for legal permanent residence. Instead, DREAM Act creates a separate program for students that requires them to earn legal permanent residence by attending college or serving in the military for two years while in a temporary legal status. DREAM will not affect the number of visas available or the time it takes to get a visa for those entering through traditional legal immigration.
The point: if you are a potential future immigrant, why would you come here legally if they pass Dream Act? Just to respect the US immigration law? Maybe a pat on the back from the president?
Don't you know that money now is better than money after 10+ years?
How about the dreams of citizens getting an affordable education and sending their kids to school funded by their tax dollars and not having their own children knocked out of a university seat by someone's parent who chose to committ a crime?
The children of illegals should be able to apply for citizenship no harm, no foul. But the folks who committed the original crime should be deported.
Fact: According to the National Immigration Law Center:
Most undocumented students are likely to have zero impact on admission rates of native born students: Since 2001, 10 states have made it easier for undocumented state residents to attend college by offering in-state tuition to those that qualify. A significant portion of the students that took advantage of this opportunity have done so in community colleges, which have open enrollment. The small numbers of students who will attend 4-year universities are not significant enough to affect the opportunities of others.
Institutions charged with education of our youth overwhelmingly support the bill. Well-established education organizations like the American Association of Community Colleges, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, National Educators Association, the College Board, and prominent university presidents/chancellors support the DREAM Act.
But, why punish children for their parents bringing them here? That's really not fair. And why punish people with very few options for wanting to come here? I just never understood this all out hatred. It's not the reason this country is starting to go down the tubes. WE ARE the reason for that.
The number of Americans who believe the country is on the wrong track rose to 63 percent this month, up from 60 percent in June, with stubbornly high unemployment and prolonged gridlock in Washington dashing hopes of a swift economic recovery.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/14/american-economy-poll_n_897935.html
14 million U.S. Citizens out of work @ 9.2% unemployment rate
No damn reason to have 8 million illegals working U.S. jobs in the USA ~ illegally
U.S.C. 8 § 1324 : US Code - Section 1324: Bringing in and harboring certain aliens
(a) Criminal penalties
(1)(A) Any person who -
(i) knowing that a person is an alien, brings to or attempts to
bring to the United States in any manner whatsoever such person
at a place other than a designated port of entry or place other
than as designated by the Commissioner, regardless of whether
such alien has received prior official authorization to come to,
enter, or reside in the United States and regardless of any
future official action(ii) knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien
has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in
violation of law, transports, or moves or attempts to transport
or move such alien within the United States
(iii) knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an
alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in
violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection,
or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such
alien in any place, including any building or any means of
transportation;
(iv) encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or
reside in the United States,
Indeed, the United States leads the world in producing criminals.
Europeans built the foundation of this country on the crime of invasion and illegal immigration, illegal genocide, the illegal murder of American Indians, illegal land theft, illegally breaking treaties, etc etc.
Europeans made themselves legal by signing a piece of paper saying it was so and Native American Indians illegal the same way.
The implementation of U.S. government policies serving the interests of U.S. corporations is critical in order to comprehend why millions of poor and indigenous people have been migrating to the United States in the past several decades.
Policies pushing Mexicans northward include the passing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993, and the devastating peso devaluation in 1994.
quote:
"If you want to find a safe city, first determine the size of the immigrant population," says Jack Levin, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Massachusetts. "If the immigrant community represents a large proportion of the population, you're likely in one of the country's safer cities.
In fact, immigrants are less likely to commit crimes or to be behind bars than are the native-born.
http://reason.com/archives/2009/07/06/the-el-paso-miracle
The U.S. military also needs the DREAM Act. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy, Bill Carr, stated that the law would be “good for readiness” and would help to recruit “cream of the crop” students. The DREAM Act is part of the Department of Defense’s 2010-2012 Strategic Plan to assist the military in its recruiting efforts.