Thread: Nuances of Immigrant Debate Lost in the Fury

http://www.latimes.com/news/columnists/ ... -headlines

Nuances of Immigrant Debate Lost in the Fury
Steve Lopez:
Points West

A few weeks ago I wrote about the graduation of a USC student who happens to be an illegal immigrant, and the reaction was decidedly uncomplimentary.

Ann was pilloried by readers, but at least she had company. USC took a beating too, and so did I.

"This is absolutely obscene," said an e-mail from someone named Preston, who described himself as a USC grad. "Does it not bother [USC] that by allowing a criminal illegal invader to attend a prestigious four-year educational institution, that they are also denying that same opportunity to a U.S. citizen?"

Maury Cloud wrote: "I was sorry to read your pathetic rationalization for Ann's illegal immigration…. By glorifying these criminals, you are just an enabler and you perpetuate the problem. If you had an ounce of decency in you, you would immediately [report her] to the FBI …."

Another reader wanted me locked up just as soon as Ann was deported, if not before.

I didn't set out to glorify Ann. She did things it's hard to justify, like staying in the United States after her student visa expired and lying about her residency to get lower tuition rates and even a scholarship.

But it seemed to me that she added something a little different to the discussion on illegal immigration. That's why I shared her story, along with her take on the rancor aimed at illegal immigrants, sometimes by the very hypocrites who benefit from their presence.

In that column, I also raised legitimate concerns about immigration, like national security and the high cost of public services for illegal immigrants.

As reader Tracy Klinesteker asked:

"How did Ann, an illegal immigrant, get accepted into USC with a partial scholarship, whereas I, a native citizen … with … a 3.75 GPA, my own money and a valid [bachelor of arts degree] get rejected?"

I can't answer, but it's a fair question.

USC officials told me they have a don't-ask-don't-tell policy. The school yanked Ann's scholarship when it found out she was illegal. But it didn't expel or report her.

Since writing the column, I've learned how widely such policies vary from one university to the next.

Pepperdine University makes it clear that illegal immigrants shouldn't even set foot on the school's great sloping lawn overlooking the Malibu coastline.

The university doesn't go so far as to threaten violators with torture-by-lecture from Kenneth Starr, but the policy says that those caught lying about their residency status face "disciplinary/legal action."

Occidental College President Ted Mitchell, on the other hand, is right up front about welcoming undocumented immigrants to the Eagle Rock campus.

"We do our best to provide them aid, and I wish I could do more," he said.

Mitchell doesn't believe a family that crashed the border last week should be welcomed with open arms and full scholarships. But he argues that for anyone brought to the United States illegally as a child, college shouldn't be automatically denied. The child didn't commit the crime, after all, and had no say in the matter.

"Yep, they're here illegally … but they're part of our lives and part of our communities. They joined the clubs, mastered reading and the rest of the curriculum, got 4.1 or 4.2 [grade-point averages], were captains of the cheerleading or football team, and play the oboe," Mitchell said.

I think it's fair to say that not every illegal immigrant plays the oboe and gets straight A's, but Mitchell is talking about those who do well enough to apply to a school like Occidental.

"As a state and a nation, we have to ask ourselves whether we should reject those people," he said, "or accept them, embrace them, and be enriched by their great skills and talent, and as for me, I vote for the latter."

Mitchell said in a newspaper commentary two years ago that illegal immigrants who moved to the U.S. in elementary school should be eligible for the college Cal Grants available to low-income Californians. He keeps one reader's response on the wall of his office:

"Dear President Mitchell:

"I could hardly believe it when I read where you proposed that we give government-sponsored scholarships to illegal aliens. What have you been smoking, or did you have a head injury as a child?"

I swear I've gotten mail from the same person.

As for California's public universities, illegal immigrants can't get government-funded scholarships, but they can get the lower in-state tuition even though they're not technically residents of the country, let alone the state.

If you're the governor, by the way, what kind of leadership does it show to say yippie ki-yay for those self-proclaimed border bouncers, the Minutemen? Especially when he's keeping mum on in-state tuition for illegal immigrants and ignoring all the employers who gladly hire cheap labor, no questions asked.

And speaking of leadership, I want all the soft-headed Democrats to acknowledge the social costs of illegal immigration and its impact on wages. I want grandstanding Republicans to acknowledge that cheap labor is part of a package that includes some form of work visas. And I want President Bush to broker a deal while taking a carrot and stick to Mexico and other sending nations.

Ann, by the way, made it through her USC graduation ceremony without being arrested. She reports that she has contacted an immigration attorney and is looking for work.

That's just an update, by the way, not a glorification.

I am a working student , a native US citizen and just struggling to put roof and food on the table for my family, living paycheck to paycheck as most Amercians and LEGAL US CITIZENS! slowly falling from the lower, middle class.

If you come here illegally you have no rights to education or any other services otherwise it is that simple! This article points out just another problem.

I cannot believe USC gave her a degree! ICE, INS should have arrested her right as she was getting her diploma and deported her! Now she is still here with a degree, illegally, looking for work, if she gets a job that's one more job that will be taken away from a legal or native US Citizen!

BY THE WAY I, "TMS" is STILL TRYING TO MAKE IT TOO MY, GRADUATION

What if your son or saughter got a rejection letter from USC?

I AM MAKING IT THE LEGAL WAY! I don't need to lie, cheat and steal to get through life, this is the USA and I love it! Go back ANN! Take that Degree and stick it where the sun don't shine.....What goes around comes around!

I am so mad!