If the DREAM ACT were to pass by mid-November those benefiting immediately would be undocumented people under 30 who already completed the 2 or more years of college (plus the other requirements of no criminal record etc.) . There will be none (or very very few that slipped through the cracks) in the military because you can't enlist unless you are already a legal resident.
If the DREAM ACT does not include in-state tuition that will leave hundreds of thousands of students in the lurch.-
These would be:
1. Students still in high school that are hoping to go to college
2. Those who are college students but have not completed the required 2 years of college enrollment (this would include students like Juan Sebastian Gomez who are just starting college)
3. Those who have not met the requirements and live where in-state tuition is not available. There are 40 states that do not offer in-state tuition.
For those that do not have the 2 years of college - and they don't live in:
Texas, Illinois, California, Utah, Washington, Nebraska, Oklahoma, New York and New Mexico - they will have to pay international rates that are significantly higher than even out-of-state tuition for U.S. residents.
These kids will have only one option, to join the military, now that they will be able to enlist without documents.
So it comes down to this:
If the DREAM ACT passes, a certain number of students will be automatically eligible for residency. Those living in one of the ten states also have a chance at ultimately qualifying.
Yet, these students will be regularized at the expense of the thousands that have no choice but to join the military. As it is, many undocumented young people cannot afford in-state tuition. I have spoken to many young men who came to the U.S. at age 14 and 15 and went immediately to work full time... because they need to make money to survive - education is a luxury.
These young people will pay a huge price for the small number who will automatically qualify. Many will die or be seriously injured if they are sent to a war zone (i.e. Iraq).
So for each DREAM ACT Student who gets their residency, there will be at least several undocumented persons who will join the military. Those who are killed in combat or severely injured - will pay the price for the few that qualified.
4 comments:
All Dream Act kids in the entire 50 states qualify for instate tuition. The ones who don't qualify are the ones ineligible for the path to legalization portion of DREAM.
For example, DREAM has a 5 year continuous residency requirement. A minor who entered in 2004 at the age 14 would not qualify. He or she stays as an undocumented immigrant and cannot get in state tuition (unless he or she is lucky enough to live in one of those 10 states and even then that person will stay undocumented).
A Dream Act kid who meets the requirement of the DREAM path to legalization will be a conditional resident and thus legally present in the US. Being legally present, the Dream Act kid will be able to get in state tuition in the state they live in.
Eliminating in-state means the federal ban stays and states cannot freely choose to offer in state tuition to undocumented immigrants (except for the current loophole with those states who offer in state to those people who graduate in their state's high schools).
Your are right, kids that already qualify and automatically become residents do get in-state tuition. I'm talking about the students who have not made the requirements yet, like Juan Sebastian Gomez, who just started college. He is a star student, but if there is no in-state tuition in his state, what could he do if he can't afford the international rates?
Perhaps the issue is how you define DREAM ACT student. You are talking about kids that have already gotten the 2 yr. college requirement. I'm talking about the kids that fall into the group that could get meet the requirements with more time (years in college etc).
If the Dream Act passes, all DREAM Act kids become conditional residents once their application is approved. The Dream Act kid will then have 6 years to finish the two year college or military requirement and if he/she fails to finish the two years, that person reverts back to undocumented status.
The two year college or military requirement is not a requirement for conditional residency but is needed for the transition from conditional to permanent residency. All Dream Act kids with conditional residency will have access to in state tuition in the state they reside in because the government will consider them legal residents.
Marie-Theresa,
DREAM has not even passed yet and it appears that your main goal is to game the system.
In many of your posts you promote the position that military service should be avoided if at all possible. You decry it as too great a price to pay.
As I said in another post, my grandparents on both sides emigrated from Germany and they eventually brought their German-born children. My father and all three of my male uncles from both families served in World War II and my father and two of uncles served in Korea. One of my uncles received a Purple Heart in Korea.
I am a first generation American and served in the military during the Vietnam era. My son is currently serving in the military and has already served a tour in each of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Is your position that the benefits that this country provides its citizens are not worth military service?
Are you promoting taking advantage of everything that American taxpayers provide in the way of benefits for purely selfish gain?
This kind of take, take, take attitude on the part of the pro-illegal immigration organizations just makes regular Americans like myself feel like we shouldn't be giving any extraordinary benefits to any people who have already abused are laws.
Remember, the DREAM applicants will have already received a high school education at American taxpayer expense before they are eligible for the act. When is it that these applicants return the favor and do something for America?
I actually don't believe that most applicants would have the same selfish attitude as you do. My sense is that most would be more grateful than you appear to be for the benefits that they would be receiving.
It is you and people who demand compassion but then spit in the face of the people who give it that disappoint me most.
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