April 8, 2009 – Just imagine that you are a citizen in a third world country and you have a child that is 15 years old. That child has limited opportunities in your own country. Now imagine that right next door there is a large, industrialized nation that will allow illegal aliens to attend college, get in-state tuition and get on a path to citizenship. The only proviso is that to qualify for this program, children need to enter that large, industrialized country before their 16th birthday. What are you going to do?
The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, is now being considered by the Senate. The House is considering a similar bill that they are calling the American DREAM Act. Unfortunately, Americans are excluded from the benefits of these bills but they will be expected to foot the tax bill and incur some other penalties.
Essentially, these bills would give the states permission to allow illegal aliens who are entered the US before their 16th birthday to attend college. More importantly, it would allow the states to offer in-state tuition rates to these illegals; something that they can’t do under current federal law unless they offer in-state tuition to all Americans.
During the time that these illegal aliens are receiving their education, they would be given temporary legal status and put on a six year road to citizenship.
