Blog Post #1
Illegal Immigration with In-state Tuition
Immigration is a huge issue facing the United States
government, even more so than ever under this new presidency. The
United States was found on Immigration, at one point in time all of our
ancestors were immigrants to this nation, so the questions to be asked is why
do we have such an issue with allowing immigration to continue?
I may not have the answer to the question but we can take a
closer look on an issue that has been recurring throughout our nation within
the past few years. More recently we have seen a decent amount of high school
graduates coming forward as being illegal immigrants. So here is the question
to be discussed, Should illegal immigrants receive in-state tuition?
As of 1996 federal law states that illegal immigrants are
not to receive in-state tuition for public institutions of higher education.
Although, this is considered federal law, many states have passed laws allowing
in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. These states were allowed to proceed
with this action do to these set requirements, such as the students must have
attended their high school for three or more years or in many of these states schools they are just simply not asking whether they are legal here or
not, ultimately allowing these students to receive in-state tuition.
Those in favor of providing illegal students with in-state tuition
argues that many of these illegal immigrant teens were brought to this country
as babies by their parents and they should not have to pay for the mistakes of
their parents. Also many of these students only known home is the United States, so
to them they are very much American.Also argued, If these students were awarded with the
opportunity to attend a school at a more affordable price they very much well
could be a productive member of American society, and not being pushed down
into illegal activities.
Those Opposed to the offer of in-state tuition argue that if a
student is to be attending a college is nearly an adult, therefore they should
hold some responsibility. The opposed side also argues that the states allowing
illegal immigrants to receive in-state is violating federal law. This side also
believes that entrance slots in colleges are tight so allowing illegal
immigrants the advantage over American students is taking away from American society and what we stand for.
As one can see each side has legitimate arguments but at the end
of the day which side will have the most convincing of the two. Each side uses
persuasive wording but in different ways, each appealing to one’s own party and
very much ignoring the arguments of the other. However, if in the middle such
as I am on this issue one can see the validity of both the sides. With this particular
issue at the end of the day it’s all cause and effect, someone isn’t going to
get what they need and the other person will, so will it be the American or the illegal immigrant?