http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/news/local ... igrantstud

Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Debate heats up on citizenship measure for immigrants' kids
The Associated Press


PHOENIX - About 150 people rallied outside the Arizona Capitol yesterday to show support for a proposal in Congress that would give the children of illegal immigrants the chance to become U.S. citizens.

The proposal would allow students to apply for legal residency if they entered the United States before they were 16, lived here for at least five years and graduated from high school or were enrolled in college.

The measure was first proposed in Congress in 2001.

The Urban Institute, an economic and social policy research group, estimates that 65,000 illegal immigrants who have lived in the country for at least five years graduate from high school each year.

Supporters of the proposal say it's unfair to treat the children of immigrants differently just because their parents decided to bring them into the country illegally.

Silvia Rodriguez, an Arizona State University student who was brought into the United States from Mexico when she was 2 years old, said the proposal would give young people who are essentially Americans more opportunities to pursue their dreams.

"I don't know what it looks like over there (in Mexico)," Rodriguez said. "Some of us don't even know how to speak Spanish."

Opponents said the proposal would lead to more competition for legal students who are seeking admission at universities.

"It is a de facto amnesty," said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates limits on immigration and opposes the proposal. "It rewards people who broke the law. It puts at a disadvantage kids who didn't break the law."

In Phoenix, the government recently sought to deport four high school students who were brought to the United States illegally as children. An immigration judge threw out the case in July.