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Everyone wins with immigrant tuition bill

---- Edited by Husker, Everyone that is EXCEPT American citizens ---------

Everyone wins with immigrant tuition bill
By C.L. / Guest Columnist
Sunday, May 15, 2005

Editor's note: We have agreed to keep the author of this column anonymous in order to protect the student and the family.

It is sad and disappointing that the Marlborough City Council is opposing the In-State Tuition Bill. As a 17-year-old undocumented immigrant student who has lived in Massachusetts for five years, I see the In-State Tuition Bill as a very helpful thing, not only for me but also for our country's economy.

Students who will have access to this opportunity are the ones that have put all of their effort into every year of high school -- People who are smart, responsible and human beings just like everybody else.

All we want is to become somebody. We just want to develop our skills to help this society grow. We are not drug dealers or thieves, or even responsible for being here. Our parents brought us to this country at a very young age, and now that we have been here so long, we see America as our home.

Whether this bill is passed or not, the immigrants that you "hate" so much will still be here. There will still be landscapers who don't speak a word of English, there will still be a Brazilian or Hispanic person serving you coffee in the mornings at Dunkin' Donuts.

Opposing this bill will not stop immigration, it will not make people "go back to where they're from." It will only stop hard working students from contributing to this state and this country.

Don't you think that it would be better to turn these students into the great professionals of the future? --- Edited, NOPE, it would be much better to send them, along with their lawbreaking parents back where they came from, so that if they wish to be educated, it can be on their home contries tab -------- Wouldn't it be better to let one of us become the next scientist to discover the cure for cancer? Or even the greatest architect to design the next White House? Who knows what we could discover?

Right now all we want is an opportunity to show you how far we can go and how productive we can become.

Hopefully, the people against this bill take time out of their day to actually read the bill. Maybe then they will realize that we are not asking for money, or for a discount. All we are asking is to pay the same rate as our high school classmates. ----- Edited again, WHAT!!! You are precisely asking for a taxpayer paide discount! and he claimed to be a smart one??? -------

My parents have been here for over five years now, they have been working this entire time and they pay taxes like everybody else. I started in 8th grade and this June 2005, I will be graduating with honors from Marlborough High School.

I have set many goals, one of the most important was to learn English, which I did after six months of being here. Another was to get straight A's and become an example for the rest of the English Language Learner students. My main goal was to get into college.

For four years, all I thought about was college. Every time I felt tired, the thought of going to college woke me up.I have accomplished all of my goals except the main one -- going to college. I have the desire, the motivation and the ability to get accepted to college -- the only obstacle that's stopping me is my economic situation because of my immigration status.

I would love to become an architect or an engineer. I applied to Massachusetts College of Art and was accepted. However, I was considered an out-of-state student because I don't have a Social Security number. The amount of money that you must pay when you are an out-of-state student is $20,000 a year. For an in-state student, it is $6,000 a year.

When I found out that I would have to pay $20,000 a year with no financial aid, loans or scholarships I realized that I wouldn't be able to go to college like I had always planned.

I feel like I am watching my future fade away as if it were just a cloud of colorful dreams. This is a feeling full of disappointment, frustration, sadness and bitterness.

By supporting the In-State Tuition Bill, you will change my future and the future of many immigrant students like me.

I hope the Marlborough City Council will reconsider its resolution on the In-State Tuition Bill. If members of the City Council change their mind, they will make a decision to help ushave a better future. They have the opportunity to send the right message to Marlborough students by helping us achieve our dreams.

C.L., Marlborough High School student