Dream Act? Amazing or Ridiculous?

Updated on July 22, 2012
B.G. asks from Manhattan Beach, CA
21 answers

I am so infuriated with this whole thing. I am not one to go on political rants, but this one deserves the attention.

The Dream Act was just passed in California. This act will cost an average of $6.2 of taxpayers' money a year, allowing illegal immigrants access to private college scholarships. ILLEGAL immigrants are going to get private scholarships for college. I am in huge debt from my college expenses because I could not get any scholarships or grants, and I have been paying my taxes since I was 16. I went to college, had to work 2 jobs, and was doing two college sports. I DID IT LEGALLY.

Does anyone else see how this is crazy? ILLEGAL people are getting access to college scholarships. I am not racist, I don't really care what race people are. I feel like people should get what they work for. If you are a legal citizen, you deserve this college money. If you are illegal, you don't deserve to stick your hand in the pot you did not help to fill.

My husband just went through the green card process. It is annoying and long, yes, but worth it in the end to be a legal person. HE DID IT, WHY CAN'T THEY? If you want the advantages of being a citizen, you should become a citizen. Nowadays, actual American citizens have the least amount of rights, especially in California. If you are a white male, forget about it.

What are everyone's opinions on this Dream Act?

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So What Happened?

Susie- I don't think you understand what is bothering me. Illegal students are getting money to go to college. Shouldn't we be concerned with the legal citizens getting an education as well? When did it become my problem to pay for an illegal's education if I am having problems paying for my own?
Bonnie- so that means I shouldn't be allowed scholarships for school and illegals should? A few hundred years ago we weren't in the same situation as we are now. Not even the same thing.
Bernie- I have lived in other countries. I did it the legal way, though. There is always a right and wrong way to do something. I am all about people wanting to live here to have a better life and so on. Just do it legally. Going the illegal way is so wrong and not fair.
Denise- the rights I do not have as a legal citizen- since I am white, I do not have access to almost any scholarships; since my parents are middle class (NOT wealthy), I could not get any scholarships going straight into college; affirmative action places whites at the bottom of the list to get into colleges, no matter what your test scores or GPA. I am a citizen who has been paying taxes since I was 16 and I do not get any of these benefits. We are REWARDING people that came here illegally, making them criminals. No matter how you look at it, illegal immigrants are NOT legal. And now they are accessing our scholarships made to help citizens?
Cheap labor, of course. The people hiring illegals do not pay their medical insurance, benefits, or anything else they would have to pay a citizen. Blame the people hiring them. If it were legal for anyone to hire an American for half the salary and with no benefits, that would be different.

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D.K.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I think it is a fantastic program. Most of those eligible are kids who came here as infants and toddlers - they had no say in the matter. And now they will be able to go to college or serve in the military, become citizens and be productive members of society. And they will pay way more than $6.20 a year in TAXES. Plus - I don't see how private scholarships are costing you money.I think it is horrifying that we are deporting children back to countries they do not even remember. Also, a huge number of illegals are already paying taxes - they just can't get the benefits back without being legal.

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M.P.

answers from Raleigh on

Maybe I am thinking of something else, but I thought the Dream Act was to give scholarships to children of immigrants that were brought to this country illegally by their parents. They were brought and raised here as minors, but never could obtain citizenship because their parents were not citizens. In this case, I don't see the big deal. They don't get the same access to financial aid as citizens and it's not really fair that they are deprived on an education based on the decisions of their parents...

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B.M.

answers from Chicago on

Oh goodness...... really, people?

Correct me if I'm wrong - but weren't we ALL immigrants at some point? Unless you are a Native American your ancestors ALL brought you here.

This is yet another case of people not having all the information about what this legislation is and getting all worked up.

The state of CA already provides medical care to everyone, regardless of citizenship. Do you know how much THAT costs each year? Getting the CHILDREN of immigrants a way to obtain citizenship means that they will be paying taxes. AMERICA WINS IF THAT HAPPENS. They will have higher paying jobs, they will contribute to taxes and the economy.

This isn't for EVERY illegal immigrant to go run out and get govt money and go to school.

This is for the CHILDREN of illegal immigrants who have been here for 6 years, graduated from high school, NOT gotten into ANY trouble and either serve in the military or graduate from a college or university.

FYI - a child of illegal immigrants can't just walk down to INS and apply for a green card. It doesn't work that way. You have to have a relative who is a us citizen or permanent resident who will sponsor you. or you have to have a job that will sponsor you (and FYI - these jobs are not jobs that a 17 year old who just graduated from HS can get).

So - again. Those kids who were brought to the US illegally by their parents are now stuck in the same low paying jobs as their parents without access to higher education or, in some states, medical care. Anyone who THINKS someone WANTS to work in a low paying job - get a grip. You work in the job you work because that's what is available to you. That's what you know. You're middle class..... why? Why aren't you wealthy? Why don't you invest money? Why can't you go be a stockbroker or whatever and be a millionaire? Because it's just not that easy to raise above how you were raised.

For anyone who says scholarships are not available for white people - walk into ANY financial aid office. Usually on the table in front of the desk there are 2 very large binders FILLED with scholarships. You have to apply. You have to do your due dilligence and fill out applications. But there is money available. There are jobs that offer tuition reimbursement. There are ways to do things if you want them. Lots of my friends had scholarships for college because they worked hard and got good grades. They developed a talent or skill and then applied for a scholarship that recognized that - ie Tennis scholarship or Debate team.

Affirmative action does NOT place white students at the bottom of the list regardless of GPA or test scores. What are you talking about? You show me ONE place that is in writing and I will retract my email. But that is absolutely ridiculous. It may guarantee a certain number of spots to kids who otherwise would be unable to attend. Which means if there are 100 spots available - they may set aside 20 spots for kids who can't pay. But those kids still have to have GPA and test scores above a certain criteria. But there are still 80 left and those spots are determined by test scores and grades.

Also - Not every illegal immigrant will qualify for money. Most will have to find a way to fund their education like everyone else.

Yes - the middle class has the least 'handed' to them. Poor people qualify for things and the wealthy can afford to pay for them without sacrificing something else. Yay capitalism.

How have rights been taken away from white people - especially white males? no RIGHTS have been taken away. There is just now competition. Things aren't handed to them anymore. If you have a spoiled brat as a kid and all of sudden you stop handing them everything they want and make them work for it.... you haven't taken away their RIGHTS. They simply don't get a free ride anymore. And yes, that pisses white males off. Because a sense of entitlement is bred over a long period of time.

You think a 16 year old boy who has lived in poverty their whole life is going to suddenly start believing he can go to college and be a stockbroker? You think a 15 year old girl who watched her mom work 2 or 3 jobs for under the table money while helping to raise her younger siblings because her parents were always gone.... you think she has exactly the same chance as my daughter of getting a good job? She ABSOLUTLEY DOES NOT. My daughter will go to college because she doesn't really think she has an option to do anything else. My daughter is inspired to think about limitless options for her future. My daughter knows that she is not confined to a 5 mile radius of the neighborhood of in which she was raised. A child raised in a neighborhood of poverty and violence hasn't received that message from his/her parents. So, yes... if our country can provide funding and ability for that girl to get an education BEYOND what her family could instill in her she needed so that she can be a productive, educated, tax-paying citizen.... then that is what will fix the issues in our country.

And - you say blame the people hiring them? you know who hires illegal immigrants and pays them low wages under the table? RICH REPUBLICAN WHITE MALES for the most part. So, sure... go ahead and blame them.

AB 130 (the bill that passed in CA) will cost taxpayers nothing. Read the bill. Where did you find your info that it will be funded by $6.20 of taxpayers dollars per year?

AND - under SEC. 3. Section 66021.6 is added to the Education Code, to read:
(b) The number of financial aid awards received by California
resident students from financial aid programs administered by the
segments shall not be diminished as a result of the application.

SO IT TAKES NOTHING AWAY FROM ANYONE.

Oh - and this is off Wiki
A recent UCLA study estimates that between $1.4 trillion and $3.6 trillion in taxable income would be generated for the economy over a 40 year period based upon estimates ranging between 825,000 and 2.1 million potential DREAM Act beneficiaries successfully obtaining legal status through the legislation.[7]

Just my $0.02

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J.C.

answers from Anchorage on

The Dream act is a wonderful thing. It is not for any and all illegals, it is for children who where brought here by their parents (not by their choice) and who then went to and graduated from our highschools. It is a way to help them achieve better and provide a path to become productive citizens and tax payers.

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T.K.

answers from Dallas on

Please reread your question. PRIVATE scholarships. Not PUBLIC scholarships. Tax payers money = public scholarships. Private donations = private scholarships. The part of the bill that could affect the public is that they allow undocumented people that have finished 3 yrs of public highschool to pay in-state tuition.
http://news.yahoo.com/california-dream-act-approved-illeg...

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R.D.

answers from Richmond on

Dear America: Let's stop trying to fix EVERYONE'S problems and start focusing on our own, just for a little while. Thank you! Love, R.

Honestly, I don't follow politics, but illegals piss me off. MY JOB, MY KIDS SCHOOLS, MY COUNTRY, not yours. If you want to become a legal citizen, GREAT!... if not, get out.

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B.K.

answers from San Francisco on

I am not American nor do I live in America so I am not going to comment on this act.
All I want to say from reading some of the responses here is we don't know what the future holds and maybe some day it will be Americans fleeing their country looking for safety in Europe etc and I wonder will karma show SOME Americans what it truly feels like to be an illegal/legal immigrant struggling to make their way in a foreign country with all the hostility,judgements,false assumptions they will face.
B. k

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D.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Well...it seems that lots of wealthy Americans are happy enough to use the service of illegals and the companies that hire them. Cheap landscaping , anyone? Maid service for a fraction of what you'd pay a U.S. citizen? California, with a high population of illegals *might* just think, "They're here, they're not leaving....maybe they can become MORE productive taxpayers eventually with an education behind them."?

Seriously, this country needs to stop talking out of both sides of it's mouth. For every illegal there are several Americans wanting cheap labor. Labor and jobs our citizens think are "beneath them".

As for your statement "Nowadays, actual American citizens have the least amount of rights, especially in California."....wondering if you could give examples of what *rights* the citizens of Cali are actually losing?

Edited to add* Has anyone seen the actual storage sheds FULL of bodies of illegals who have died TRYING to cross the border? Stacked to the ceilings in WAREHOUSES, families left behind who still don't know what happened to their loved ones, trying to be identified in warehouses of extreme putrid stench. I think these people just *might* be trying to get out of their countries for the same reason our founders came here.

Yeah, best not to give them anything.

ETA Last time I checked, a scholarship was not a *right* it was an opportunity!

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S.B.

answers from Houston on

I don't like it one bit. Why do I have to pay out of state tuition for my son to go to school in Kentucky when someone who is ILLEGAL gets a deal. I am like you, I don't mind immigration but ILLEGAL is another issue. I live in Houston and it is a big problem here. Very frustrating!!

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S.M.

answers from Kansas City on

With the budget woes of California, what the hell are they thinking? My daughter is working 2 jobs to pay for her schooling at San Diego State. She has student loans and has been in school for YEARS already because it's so hard to be in school while working so much. I know that my husband and I have paid into this system, including 4 years in California and my daughter deserves that money way more than someone that was not born here. We can not SAVE THE WORLD! Maybe we could do more if we stopped meddling everywhere else and started taking better care of our own.

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C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

Betsy:

If you have read ANY of my posts....you will KNOW where I stand on this...

California is ALREADY in a HUGE HUGE mess because of all the entitlement programs they are currently delving out....so much so that they really can't afford it any more...any more than they can afford this...

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS SHOULD NOT HAVE ACCESS TO ANY and I mean ANY ACCESS to programs - food, welfare, social security - NONE OF IT...

Your husband went through the process...why can't they? what makes them sooo special that they can skip over the border and take what they did not earn?

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B.K.

answers from Chicago on

I don't really think we have an immigration problem -- we have an illegal immigrant enforcement problem.

People come here legally all the time. It's not that difficult. I've had friends who did it. It wasn't complicated, it just took some time.

People who come here illegally are breaking our laws. They don't need benefits, they need to be sent home.

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K.J.

answers from Chicago on

Amended after doing some Google searching...

Part 1 of the Dream Act was passed, which is the part that grants the right for illegals to obtain PRIVATE scholarships (I am ok with this--I don't care if some philanthropist or corporation wants to fund someone's education.)

Part 2 of the Dream Act is still held up in CA's legislature. This part is the one that deals with PUBLIC funding of illegals' college education. I would be opposed to that.
---

I'm not sure of what I think of the Dream Act in general, but in CALIFORNIA?!! I'd call it a Nightmare! The state of CA can't pay their bills as it is! How can they continue to pass on entitlements that they cannot possibly afford? Oh wait, that's right...they'll just raise taxes again. Ugh. My in-laws sure picked the WRONG state to move to in their golden years!

ETA on July 23, 2012: I find it pretty difficult to believe that there were NO scholarships or grants available to you because you were from a middle class family & white. I'm as white as they come, and my parents are middle class, but I was able to get merit-based scholarships (based on my grades) and a Pell Grant and a private grant. The Pell Grant is not just for the poor, and certainly not just for minorities. The private grant my school's financial aid informed me of, and I applied for it and wrote an essay to request it. I was the chosen recipient, and each year the family who granted it to me renewed it. Money IS out there for white, middle-class students.

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B..

answers from Dallas on

Thank you, Rachel D.

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B.V.

answers from Los Angeles on

I think you should look at yourself and be glad your people came to
America when there were no entry rules. My grandparents could just come.
Now I don't think that makes me so special.
Also don't you want to live in a country with a high standard of education?
Do you want child labor and sweat factories?
Just be grateful for what you have.

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R.X.

answers from Houston on

I am late responding to this. But I think that being here illegally is a crime. WindyCityMom, not all people were brought to America by their families...

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V.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

If morality is at issue here (I.e. a group should be denied benefits as punishment for its illegal behavior), perhaps we should also deny scholarships and in-state tuition to the children of people who hire undocumented workers, which happens to be, you know, illegal. When fewer jobs are available, illegal immigration rates plummet, as they have in our current recession. Problem solved!

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S.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

If I could give 100 flowers to WindyCityMom, I would. Please don't be ignorant about the laws and become one of those extreme people who rant without having completely accurate information. And, if you are going to rant, please also don't ever complain about rising food and clothing costs if you aren't willing to help pay for the basic care and education of lower-cost labor (whether legal or illegal) to grow, pick, butcher, make, sew, etc., those items.

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P.R.

answers from Cleveland on

This isn't an issue about wealthy people hiring illegals. Their wages are a function of supply and demand - simple as that. If they're willing to work for $5/hour, that's their choice. I've never hired an illegal knowingly but if I did, I'm not holding a gun to their heads to make them work for me. The number of illegals drives wages for some work down to levels Americans won't work at mainly bc they can collect benefits wealthy people are mainly paying for. If there weren't people willing to cut my lawn (hypothetically as we cut our own) for $5/hour and we couldn't afford to pay more, then we'd do it ourselves. Again, supply and demand. Rich people wouldn't have as many services. So which comes first - rich people "exploiting" immigrants or so many people coming here that wages are driven down? When I was a kid, no one had a cleaning person. Women took care of their own houses. Now lots of people have a cleaning person partly bc it's cheaper to do so than it used to be. Make it expensive again and people will go back to cleaning their own houses. In terms of this law, in theory I can see the point - it's not these children's fault. However, it's rewarding the parents who made a decision to be illegal while CA school systems go down the drain bc of lack of funding. So where is this money coming from?? Why do these kids get financial aid while the kids of taxpayers see their classroom sizes explode and likely can't get financial aid themselves?

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C.D.

answers from Los Angeles on

I'm of a mind that health care and education should be free to all people... like it is in England and many parts of Europe. We could afford these things if we changed our priorities. Unhealthy, uneducated people are costly to a nation in the long run. Wish we could come together on this one -- what a wonderful place America would be then!

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A.V.

answers from Los Angeles on

Thank you WindyCityMom! Also, the reason that it does not cost anyone anything is because the money that is now accessible to these students--who would rather remian so than have to forget about improving their lives and give back to a country that has given them opportunity--comes from private sources. That's right, the money is from private scholarships not public funds! All this means is that there is now healthier competition for money that could go to anyone.

Considering the high number of kids, legal and illegal, not graduating HS and therefore not helping our country get back on track that much faster-- because they don't have the education to contribute--you'd think we would all be on board to encourage those who are willing to work hard at a better future. So that they can qualify for those jobs that will help them become tax paying citizens with a deep appreciation and loyalty to our country, instead of entitlement.

Peace,
A.

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