Should Americans fund the education of illegal immigrants?
Two opposing views... One of the cornerstones of American civil liberties is a "free public education" for children who live here. While this becomes a very heated debate when discussing "illegal" or undocumented immigrants, the reality is that children have no say, discussion or option in whether or not they come here. They are simply products of the decisions of their parents, whether those are good or bad choices.

If the United States refuses to educate children who are living here, an array of problems begins to compound such as illiteracy, lack of English skills, disconnection from the community and lack of opportunity for advancement. Regardless of the legal status, children deserve a chance to have their minds grow, to flourish and to learn. To refuse education to any child makes so sense. Having uneducated illegal immigrants will not make this country a better place.

The topic of college education for illegal immigrants has also become a hot topic in recent years. Some states have passed laws allowing children without legal status to attend with in-state tuition and to apply for state grants if they have lived in that state for a certain amount of time. For these children these types of opportunities make sense. Many of these children were brought here when they were young, this is the only home they know and this is their only opportunity to make a better life for themselves. Furthermore, in these states relatively few students have taken advantage of such laws meaning that the economic impact of the laws has been relatively small.

In this land of riches and opportunities, it does not seem to make sense to deny a very basic opportunity such as education to children. We have it to give. We have built our country on the foundation of saying that education and work are everything. If we believe that and want to help immigrants change their lives, then helping them get education is the way to move in that direction.

Learn more about this author, Anna Slade.
The question itself holds a single word which must, for all clear minded individuals, be used to define the only correct answer to the question. That word is; ILLEGAL.

By definition any immigrant that can rightly be judged to be in the United States illegally should never be afforded the rights of legal residents of the United States who are taxed on their wages and property. In the simplest, and perhaps the most obvious, terminology; the illegal immigrant hasn't PAID the government for the rights.

Legal residents are taxed on wages, inheritance, property and on purchases. The taxes that they pay make all state and federal programs and services possible.

There is no intelligent argument insupport legal residents of this country paying for anything on the behalf of the illegal immigrant with the possible exception of they're deportation.

Immigrants that have chosen to arrive illegally in the U.S. are, first and foremost, in direct violation of the federal laws of this country. They're very presence in the country is a testament to they're willingness to disregard the laws of the country they have chosen to, essentially, invade.

They take advantage of services, free of charge, for which legal residents are taxed. It's a rather simple concept really that one pay for what one uses.

That doesn't apply at all to those that have broken the laws of this nation in order to get what they want out of the country. That is not a good case upon which to base the argument that the education of these people ought to be paid for by taxpayers.

Paving a road to citizenship, which a free education from taxpayers is the first step, for an illegal immigrant is absolute insanity. There's no other way to look at it as the cornerstone of that kind of thinking is; that a person who has chosen to disregard the law once in order to be here in the first place will, once given a free education and further on down the road their citizenship, choose forever after to respect and obey all of our other laws.

It's ridiculous to presume that once you've taught someone that the rules don't apply to them that they have to follow the rules. Any parent would tell you that you never reward bad behaviour.

It's sad fact indeed that, for all intents and purposes, those that want to enter our country illegally are neither higly or even moderately educated. As a direct result of that fact we would have to pay out an unbelievably large amount to make educating all the illegals that currently reside here in the U.S. possible.

American citizens are not responsible for the plight of these people that knowingly break our laws. We are not indebted to them nor are we financially able to bear such a burden and we shouldn't ever have to do so.

Illegal has a rather limited definition. It's not a word whose meaning can really be heavily debated. When a citizen breaks the laws of the country he or she must pay the price of their actions regardless of what that penalty might be in terms of money or prison.

But in the mindset of some we citizens should pay for the education of those that aren't citizens but have broken our laws. This is the way of our ultimate ruin.

This is the insanity of taking opposition to laws like the recent immigration law that passed in Arizona. There is no country on Earth that does what is being considered here and there's several good reasons for that state of affairs.

Learn more about this author, Nouri Arif.

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