Monday, October 22, 2007

The Small Print in the DREAM ACT

At the end of NILC's announcement that the DREAM ACT may come up on 10 24 2007, there is a statement about in-state tuition:
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"The most important differences from the earlier version are that S. 2205 would not apply to individuals who, on the date of enactment, are over 30 years old, and it would not delete a provision of federal law that places conditions on states that provide in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants. "
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What this means in plain language is that the DREAM ACT cut off is 30 years of age.

AND

that this bill will NOT force individual states to provide in-state tuition for undocumented students... if a student is not in one of the 10 states that has in-state tuition, then the options are to pay international tuition rates (more than 4 times) OR enlist in the military.

As I have written numerous times, I think the bill will pass because the military desperately needs thousands of recruits. But the bottom line is that unless the IRAQ War stops tomorrow, many DREAM ACT kids will die so that a few can get their degrees and work as professionals. This is not a good ending to the story, but right now it is the only ending.

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