Argumentative proposal

Misael Argueta

Professor Maritza Fonseca

CAS 115

7 October 2013

Argumentative proposal

This nation is built by immigrants. It is also built on the idea that every human being has inalienable rights which include the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Many students in this country would like to pursue these unalienable rights but aren’t able to because they were not born here. Undocumented students, or “Dreamers”, shouldn't be denied the right to continue their education after high school because they worked hard to go to college. They should be allowed access to financial aid, since they completed the same educational requirement as documented students in America.

After graduating high school, many of these undocumented students don’t know what to

do seeing as there is no help for them. They can’t get jobs because it is against the law to hire undocumented immigrants. Going to a college or university isn’t a real viable option because it

can be very expensive. For undocumented students there isn’t much help for them financially.

Applying may even be a waste of time because they won’t be able to get a job. Since there

isn’t many options available many give up their education resulting in high dropout rates and

conversion of many young teens to gangs.

The DREAM act was the first legislation that was intended to help undocumented

students in gaining citizenship and getting financial aid. If passed, the DREAM act would allow

“current, former, and future undocumented high-school graduates and GED recipients. Students

eligible for federal work study and student loans, and individual states would not be restricted from providing financial aid to the students.”(Ewing 1) This would help grant undocumented

students a pathway to legal citizenship that was previously not available for them. It is estimated

that the beneficiaries of the legislation range from 800,000 (Sharry 1) to 2.1 million (Ewing 1).

Even though this hasn’t been approved by congress, many states have taken it upon their

power to help many of these students. These states include California, Illinois, Kansas,

Maryland, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin. Even

though these states don’t have the power to grant permanent status, they allow these students to

gain financial aid from the state. Many students receive little to no financial help for college and

are already hindered by the fact that many colleges refuse to accept undocumented students

simply because they are seemed as illegal even they were not at fault.

Even if the students finish college there is nothing left for them to do. For a person to get

a job they need either a SSID or a work permit. Being undocumented, students don’t have either

of these so even after they get a college diploma, they can’t find a job. Because of this, many

students are discouraged to go to college and this leads to higher high school dropout rates. By

approving the DREAM act, many of these students would actually be inspired to continue their

education after high school. Many of these students came here while they were kids and had no

say in whether they want to come here or not. The students being undocumented is through no fault of their own.

Many of them do not realize that they are undocumented and many of them are usually

at the top of their class. When they discover they are undocumented, they give up on school

because they realize that regardless of all their hard work they are still going to be discriminated

by college and when they’re looking for work. These students have high potential and should be

rewarded for trying their best to succeed.

The DREAM act would benefit the economy and universities. “This legislation would

give beneficiaries access to greater educational opportunities and better jobs, which in turn

means more taxable income. Letting the talent of DREAM Act students go to waste “imposes

economic and emotional costs on undocumented students and on U.S. society as a whole.” The

DREAM Act would also stop brain drain by allowing our most talented students to remain in the

country. Currently, only 5-10 percent of undocumented high-school graduates go to college.”

(Ewing 1) America should keep these talented students in America for their benefit. If more

students could go to college then there would be less drop outs who use government benefits and

their income they gain for working after graduating college can be taxed.

Opponents of this bill argue that this bill wouldn’t be fair to legal students here because

they believe that federal aid belongs to students who are legally from America and that we are encouraging criminal behavior. Also, “opponents of the DREAM Act fear that giving amnesty to

these immigrants who have broken immigration law will only encourage more illegal immigrants

to come into America knowing that their children will have a pathway to legal residence.”  Arguments are also being made, that there is already foundations for helping out these students. Also many arguments can be made as to why these students should get more leverage in college and financial aid applications than people who were born here. This would cause more problems for the already controversial Affirmative Action. Should these students, who many feel are being discriminated against, be protected by affirmative action and allow them to take advantage of their legal status to use as a factor when applying to college.

 
Affirmative action may be seen as a solution to the fact that undocumented students may be discriminated against. Affirmative action is defined as “ an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, esp. in relation to employment or education; positive discrimination.”           (Webster) If so, does this mean that undocumented students can appeal for admission through Affirmative Action? And if they do, does this mean that there is enough help for undocumented students already, so they don’t need anymore help? The answer is a resounding no. Even though Undocumented people, not just students, are being discriminated against, Affirmative Action only helps people who have been or can be racially or sexually discriminated against.

Works Cited Page

Ewing. AMERICA'S VOICE RESEARCH ON IMMIGRATION REFORM." Immigration

Reform Americas Voice RSS. America's Voice, 15 Sept. 2010. Web. 05 Feb. 2013.

Sharry. The DREAM Act." Immigration Policy Center. American Immigration Council, 18 Nov.

2010. Web. 05 Feb. 2013.

"Affirmative Action." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2013.