Immigration continues to be a hot topic for lawmakers across the country, particularly when it comes to services or resources that illegal immigrants are supposedly unjustly “stealing.” For example, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, lawmakers in at least 22 states are considering legislation that would affect in-state tuition at public institutions for illegal immigrants. Some states want immigrants – legal or not – who graduate from high schools to pay in-state tuition. Other state legislatures hope to ban that benefit.\nIn Arizona last November, voters approved a law that not only denies children of illegal immigrants in-state tuition at public colleges, but also restricts access to adult education and state-assisted child care. The state also established proposals making English the official language, banning illegal immigrants charged with a felony from posting bail, and blocking undocumented immigrants from receiving punitive damages in civil suits.\nWhile in our Jan. 11 editorial “Residential zone” we supported the slow implementation of these proposals, further examination has led us to change our beliefs on the matter. Sadly, many voters and lawmakers fail to recognize the humanity of illegal immigrants. And on the other side of the same coin, they fail to see how inhumane (and un-American) many of these laws are; some of these measures only cause unjust suffering for fellow humans. For example, a three-year-old whose parents brought him to the United States illegally should not be denied basic child-care services simply because we want to punish his parents. Restricting opportunities for innocent children and punishing them for their parents’ choices doesn’t seem particularly “American,” does it?\nThese measures won’t stop illegal immigration, although they will make life more difficult and unjustly punish children. We need to stop making immigrants permanent outsiders and villains whose humanity we cannot even recognize. We should stop treating them as nothing more than pesky vermin forced to live in the shadows, crevices and margins. Our legislators’ time and our voting power would be better directed toward solutions that would help these immigrants become productive citizens who could contribute positively to their communities and the country.
Dissent: Rewarding illegals not an option
Illegal immigration seems to be the issue that will not die.\nOne reason it will not die is because people are determined to reward unlawful behavior. Providing in-state tuition and free child care and allowing illegal immigrants to post bail would do exactly that. Some of my friends from Ohio cannot get in-state tuition, and yet people from other countries who break the law deserve it?\nSome people are going to whine about the “humanity” of denying certain services to illegals, but our resources should be spent on legal immigrants and citizens, both of whom have a right to expect them.\nOur first responsibility is to ourselves. We must take care of our own citizens and not reward those who break the law. That is what this package of rewards would do. For our elected leaders to support these rewards is a dereliction of duty.\n–Edward Delp
