Thread: Undocumented immigrants: Don’t shut off college

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascit ... 126493.htm

Posted on Sat, Mar. 18, 2006

Undocumented immigrants
Don’t shut off college

Need a good job? Get a college education. That’s what parents preach to their children all the time.

But apparently that message is not intended for all students in our schools. Legislation in the Missouri House now would prohibit undocumented immigrants from enrolling in the state’s public colleges and universities.

In essence, the legislation says that no matter how bright or how ambitious students are or how hard they have worked, there is no place in Missouri higher education for undocumented immigrants or their children.

This legislation is mean-spirited and offensive to all who still believe in the American dream.

It unfairly punishes children who may have been brought to this country by their parents. Many will have attended middle and high school in the state.

Decades ago, traditions and policies kept the majority of African-Americans and other minorities confined to menial labor. This legislation sends the same not-so-subtle message to the undocumented: That all they will be allowed to be is the cheap labor in the American economy. That there is little chance of upward mobility for their children.

The only argument that proponents of the legislation can offer is that the individuals affected by the bill are in the country illegally. On the surface, it’s a compelling argument — but one that ignores certain facts. These students are here, they are building lives, and many look to become citizens.

A more appropriate response would be legislation like the Dream Act, co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas. This federal legislation would allow the children of undocumented immigrants who had been in the country for several years to receive in-state tuition at their state-funded colleges and universities. Instead of shutting them out, it would increase opportunities. Unfortunately, that legislation is stalled.

Kansas is among 10 states allowing in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants. Several hundred graduates of Kansas high schools are taking advantage of this opportunity.

Missouri is ill-served by the bill in the General Assembly. The state and the country would be better served by serious immigration reform that recognizes the reality of 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country, speeds up the process for citizenship and offers protections to workers and employers alike.

Y'all still making moonshine in those Ozarks Mountains better stop using old car radiators as condensers or you will end up sounding like this guy.

This writer is targeting the wrong people, he needs to tell it to Viscente Fox.

Y'all still making moonshine in those Ozarks Mountains better stop using old car radiators as condensers or you will end up sounding like this guy.

Need a good job? Get a college education. That’s what parents preach to their children all the time.

Sorry to be the contrarian here, but the parents are wrong.

Want a good job? Then learn a trade or a skill.

A typical college degree these days has the same worth as a junior high diploma.

Floyd - you never fail me! your baby pictures are so cute.... I bet Your mom and Phillip Morris are so proud of you

Well, Thema, I was so upset about losing my avatar that I took up smoking and lost all my hair.

I know just how yah feel- I am thinking about starting a support group for Persons who have Formerly Had Snoopy Avatars
but yah dont look too bad bald- Floyd- maybe VIncente Fox could show you how to glue on a real Machismo Mustache?

That all they will be allowed to be is the cheap labor in the American economy

Wrong, anonymous dude, whoever you are. We want them to receive their college degrees in their home countries.

A typical college degree these days has the same worth as a junior high diploma.

rescent that comment, because many high paying jobs require a college education. You can't be a engineer, doctor, pharmacist, etc without being a degreed.

I have a BBA in CIS with 2 minors, many places I applied to (and interviewed with) required at least a Bachelors degree.

If college degrees were so worthless as you say, there wouldn't be so many people going to college and so many employers looking for degreed folks.