Dream Act is Wrong for Undocumented Immigrants

August 30, 2011 By John Cruz 5 Comments





Governor Brown has supposedly pledged to sign AB 131 (the Dream Act). It would grant qualified undocumented immigrants access to public funding normally reserved for legal residents to pursue a college education in California.

Dream Act proponents maintain that enacting it would contribute to the overall betterment of our society at relatively little cost to taxpayers. However, the Dream Act would put into operation a costly policy that, as things now stand, would ultimately not benefit the very students who it is intended to help or the taxpayers who are funding it.

The Dream Act is wrong headed because it is a well known but, in this case, ignored fact that an undocumented immigrant student who obtains a college degree is nevertheless unable to work anywhere in this country legally. Thus, after devoting time and effort obtaining an expensive (and taxpayer subsidized) education, such a student faces a future of (illegal) underemployment – if not of unemployment.

A Dream Act participant can realize his or her economic potential only if he or she possesses both an education and an opportunity to maximize its value, i.e., legally work. To achieve that end, we cannot rely on singular efforts like the Dream Act. Instead, the solution lays in comprehensive immigration reform which results in a permanent legalized presence in the U.S. for these students. Moreover, the solution need not lead to automatic citizenship or expulsion

It is high time we recognize that each affected undocumented immigrant student has very likely lived in the U.S. for most of his or her life. To that student, this is home, now and forever.

The Dream Act might feel good to some, but, contrary to its name, it will only instill false hopes of gainful employment and plant the seeds of disillusionment.

http://www.capoliticalreview.com/top-st ... taxpayers/