I have seen a surge of students from a few different states arguing about the cost of out-of-state tuition. Do these students live outside of that particular state? No. You may now be asking, "Why aren't they paying in-state tuition?" Well, these students are undocumented. Simply put, the parents of these students immigrated to the United States illegally. I have read that the students are saying, "Why do we have to pay for our parents' mistakes?" My answer is simple: somebody always has to pay.
By allowing the children of illegal immigrants the same rights as the children of parents that obey the law is simply wrong. Look, I'm sorry that you're having to pay for your parents' mistakes, but a line needs to be drawn somewhere.
Immigration is tough issue to tackle. For one, a lot of my friends throughout my life have been the children of illegal immigrants. Two, I think that the influence of other cultures in American culture is extremely beneficial. However, someone needs to put their foot down and enforce the laws that have been put into place. I'm not trying to purposely pick on a particular ethnicity or anything like that. I'm simply trying to address the issue and present a possible solution.
As a Native American, I understand the effects of immigration. I've read Noam Chomsky, Vine Deloria Jr., and Howard Zinn. There comes a time when complaining about something gets in the way of moving on and improving the situation. Times have changed and there are certain laws that exist and we have the proper officials to enforce those laws.
One of the reasons that this problem exists is due to the 1982 Plyler vs. Doe case. The outcome of this case found that public schools were prohibited from refusing students access to a public education regardless of whether they were documented or undocumented. Whether their parents were here legally or illegally. The Court stated that undocumented children have the same right to a free public education as U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Does anyone see a problem with this?
A public education is funded by taxpayer dollars. Why should taxpayers pay for the children of illegal immigrants to go to school? Again, I realize that immigrant parents just want to provide a better life for their children. However, does coming to the United States illegally present children with a moral demonstration on the difference between right and wrong? Other countries may not have immigration laws like the United States, but that's just it...we're the United States. If we want the best for our children and to set the best examples, allowing this problem to continue is only doing more harm than good.
What kind of example does this provide other immigrants wishing to come to the United States legally? It shows them that they could continue to pursue the same time-consuming process of coming to the United States legally or they could risk coming here illegally and enjoying the benefits of living in the greatest country in the world and have everyone else pay for their children's education.
Here are a number of observations:
1. The Plyler vs. Doe decision has done irreparable damage to this country and its public education system. Giving illegal immigrants incentive for staying in the United States is one of the major problems with this issue.
2. If you are a high school student wishing to go to college and your parents came to the United States illegally...you're going to have to pay the price.
3. The benefits that American citizens enjoy shall be denied to those coming to this country illegally.
4. The longer we wait to fix this problem, the larger the resistance will be.
5. The United States is open to all people. If people just followed the rules, we wouldn't be in this predicament.
What I'm suggesting should not be that difficult to follow through with. We need to think about the message that this sends to the rest of the world and immigrants wishing to come to the United States via legal means.
In regards to the college tuition issue: students that are here because their parents brought them here illegally will just have to face the consequences of their parents' actions. I'd be open to having their parents obtain legal citizenship through a hefty fine, a citizenship test, and they must return to their country of origin for one calendar year.
The only reason that there are so many people not in favor of this stance is because we have allowed the issue to escalate to the point that it has. The sooner that it is addressed, the easier it will be to fix.
