Backdoor amnesty at its worst


By: Tiara Fuller
Issue date: 9/24/07 Section: Opinion

Am I alone in wondering what the heck is happening to our government? Don't we have a say anymore? America is a republic. We democratically elect officials to represent us. Increasingly, though, they are blatantly disregarding our wishes and best interests for persons that are not even citizens of our country.

Just three months ago, public opinion defeated the outrageous blanket amnesty bill President Bush and the Senate tried to push through.

The people had spoken, our officials listened and that was the end of it.

At least, so I thought. Now Congress is at it again, and I was completely sideswiped when I found out who was leading the charge -- Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) with our very own Orrin Hatch (Senate) and Chris Cannon (House).

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act -- or the DREAM Act -- was quietly tacked onto a defense authorization bill because it had no hope of passing on its own.

This DREAM act is actually a nightmare, especially to us students. This is a sweeping, back-door amnesty bill that paves the way to citizenship for millions of illegal aliens.

The requirements are these: arrival of the illegal alien before the age of 16, proof of residence in the United States for at least five consecutive years and a GED or graduation from a U.S. high school.

If an illegal meets these requirements, then he or she can apply for a six-year, "conditional" lawful permanent resident (green card), in which time he or she must either graduate from a two-year community college, complete at least two years towards a four-year degree or serve two years in the U.S. military.

After six years, he or she would be allowed to convert to a non-conditional green card. With a non-conditional green card, aliens can then sponsor their parents and other family members who are living here illegally.

Congress is touting this as a bill to save the poor, innocent children who had no choice in being brought to the United States. Here's the kicker: there is no age limit to this bill. Any illegal alien can walk into a U.S. Customs and Immigration office and claim they were here before they turned 16. They don't even need to show proof -- they just have to "demonstrate" that they are eligible.

So, an illegal living here right now will be put on the fast-track to U.S. citizenship in as few as five years, whereas legal resident aliens have to take a slower path.

This nightmare will make it easier for almost any illegal to evade the law. Apparently, once one files any application -- even if there is no way he or she would qualify for the amnesty -- the government would be prohibited from deporting them. And, under the threat of a $10,000 fine, "federal officers are prohibited from either using information from the application to deport the alien or sharing that information with another federal agency."

Why are we favoring illegal aliens who are in contempt of federal law over those who have come here legally?

This act will only encourage more illegal immigration because, obviously, we don't care enough to enforce our own laws.

Oh yeah... there's more. The nightmare act also provides for illegal aliens to receive in-state tuition at public universities.

From 2002 to 2007, college costs rose 35 percent, and more than 60 percent of college students graduated with debt averaging $19,200.

Granting in-state tuition to illegal aliens is the same as providing them a taxpayer-funded education. The nightmare act also makes the illegal aliens eligible for federal student loans and federal work-study programs -- all at taxpayers' expense -- a benefit that law-abiding foreign students cannot receive.

I don't see why I should be responsible for paying for someone else's education when paying for my own is hard enough.

With the resources for education already spread so thin that most of us don't qualify for grants and have to take out loans to pay for our education, our representatives are trying to take any help available and give it to people who are breaking the law.

We as citizens should be first when it comes to getting a break on education costs, not illegals.

Out-of-state students and legal aliens pay the full cost of tuition. Why are citizens of our country and law-abiding foreign students being discriminated against?

Why are our representatives continually putting the interests of foreigners who are illegally in our country above those of American citizens?

If you are as disgusted as I am with the current display of representation by our Utah officials, I urge you to contact them immediately and voice your displeasure.

You can send a message to Orrin Hatch, Bob Bennett, Jim Matheson and Chris Cannon by going to www.congress.org, typing in your zip code and then clicking on their names.


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