A couple of weeks ago, Gov. Chris Christie of Union City,
NJ, signed a Dream Act Bill, providing students who are illegally living in the
US with a temporary residency which will open up more educational opportunities
for them and could eventually lead to the ability to become citizens. I read an
article about the bill signing by Christie, which I encourage you all to read
(the link to the article can be found here).
For more information about the Dream Act, here
is a link to the Wikipedia page about it (even though the link is from
Wikipedia, it still provides a pretty good summary of what the Act entails).
The author of the article on the Christie signing, Jenna
Portnoy, reported that the Governor claimed that even people who are
“cold-hearted” about the matter of immigration must admit that there is an
economic benefit in extending in-state tuition to students that the government
already spends a lot on. This was a bit confusing to me at first, but basically
Christie is arguing that because the state of NJ spends so much on each student
for their grade school education, why not maximize the investment and let these
students pay in–state tuition (which they would get to do once they become temporary
American residents). This would allow many more students to go to college,
which would in turn actually provide the colleges with more economic support.
More importantly, an educated workforce contributes much
more to society. An uneducated workforce, on the other hand, is much more
likely to be dependent upon society for support. The Dream Act will lead to a
stronger American workforce to help build a better economy in the future.
But even if there were no economic
benefit, shouldn’t these students deserve the right to a good education, just
like I do? The 14th amendment says:
All persons born or naturalized in the
United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the
United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or
enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of
the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection of the laws.
To me this
passage means that a person raised in the US should have the privileges of an
American citizen, and that the government doesn’t have the right to deny any of
these inherent privileges. Not only is there an economic benefit to extending
benefits to these children of undocumented immigrants, but it is also most
consistent with historical moral American values.
These kids are in so many ways like me; they consider
themselves Americans and culturally belong much more to our nation than that of
their parents. It is a technicality that keeps them from enjoying the full
benefits of enjoying American citizenship.
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteI like the heart of what you are trying to do in this post. But a few issues:
1) It's up to you (as a writer) to distinguish between the Dream Act at the state level versus the federal level. Otherwise, your reader might be confused.
2) Why not take Christie to task for not providing financial aid?
3) The 14th amendment quote could be shorter. But ultimately, does it even apply to these kids? Not sure it does.