Eng 100 - Higher Educational Aid for Alienated Students

Kevin Alvear

English 100

Professor Clemans

30 March 2012

Higher Educational aid for alienated students

There are about hundreds of thousands of young teens that enter the United States illegally. Approximately, 65,000 illegal immigrant students graduate from high school each year (Jewell). From that point of their lives, they can only dream of having a higher education unless, they are wealthy to pay a high level tuition. More likely these students are not wealthy due to the fact that they come to the United States for a better tomorrow. There are many students left with the hunger to get a better future for themselves. There is a bill called the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) that allows young immigrant people the right to become a resident. Many people believe that the bill is going to destroy the United States reputation by allowing minority groups to get the same benefits as the citizens in the country. What they do not see is the huge contributions it can give the United States. If the Dream Act is passed, it can fortify the country economically, strengthen our military service, and diminish poor social economic environments.

If one day the Dream Act is passed, many opponents will be furious because it will ruin the reputation of U.S. citizens (Watanabe). Not only that, but supposedly it will cause more immigrants to come the United States. Maybe it will encourage many immigrants to come the United States and overpopulate the nation, but the Dream Act has certain requirements so that immigrants can apply to residency (Amundson). They have to attend military service or finish college. Until then, they will only be holding a green card that just lets them attend school or the U.S. Army. Not every immigrant will be given a chance to become an American Resident but only to those who meet the qualifications and put in the hard work to accomplish their goals. Remember that in order to apply, people have to be living in the U.S. at the age of 16 or younger and have to finish high school. Once the Act is passed, then many benefits to the country will prevail.

The contribution of the Dream Act to the crucial economy of the United States is one main reason why the bill should be passed. The United States has a strong middle class and the middle class people own many small businesses that are in need of sales to contribute to a reliable net income to provide for their families. Therefore, these people want customers that are willing to buy their products. This would not have to be a problem if immigrant children were to be granted residency provided by the Dream Act. A 2007 study by the College Board found that, over the course of his or her working life, the average college graduate earns in excess of 60 percent more than a high-school graduate, and workers with advanced degrees earn two to three times as much as high-school graduates (Watanabe). If the high school graduates that are immigrants were to get a college degree, then there would be an increment in sales of small businesses that are owned by the middle class.

Another way the Dream Act helps the U.S. economy is the huge investments these immigrants will make to the economy. Since the Dream Act means more educational opportunity, then it means higher income for immigrant students that will encourage them to buy a house, open bank accounts, and build credit history. There will be more people shopping at the mall shopping because they can actually open a credit account at Macy's and buy their love ones gifts. More people will make smarter choices to buy stock from companies like Apple Inc., Wal-Mart, or any other company that they know they can benefit from because they have learned to obtain an analytical skill to make observations from a company (Jewel). Furthermore, if the Dream Act is granted, then there will be more taxable income. Since many immigrants will be going to college and occupy many high level occupations, then they will report more salary and more taxes will be reported. As of 2006, workers without a high-school diploma earned only $419 per week and had an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent. In comparison, workers with a bachelor's degree earned $962 per week and had an unemployment rate of 2.3 percent, while workers with a doctoral degree earned $1,441 per week and had an unemployment rate of 1.4 percent (Jewell). The Dream Act can only benefit the United States financially by letting the immigrant students to get a chance to occupy positions that are at a huge demand like nurses, teachers, and engineers. Additionally, According to Camarota, the Director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies, 1.03 million undocumented immigrants will pursue further education as a result of the Dream Act. (Nov 2010, cis.org) The cost of deportation for these same students would reflect a number of $24.3 billion. (Filindra Castrejon). With the crucial economic times the country is facing, the Dream Act can significantly play a huge part on the country's economic recovery. For each immigrant student, it will only take $9,000 a year to provide a college education (Castrejon). Facts are showing that it is costing the United States to terminate immigrants than to co- exist with them.

Another major reason why people should appraise the Dream Act is that it can refurnish the military service tremendously. With many more people with the right to join the U.S. armed forces, the military will be more effective due to the number of foreign soldiers that are going to be brought up. Not only will it make the military mountainous, but smarter to respond to their rivals with the knowledge of foreign soldiers that can bring to the table to the military service. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy, Bill Carr, supports the Dream Act. Bill Carr stated that the law would be "good for readiness" and would help to recruit "cream of the crop" students (Erin Aubry Kaplan). If many foreign students were to join forces in the military, there will be more strategic planning when it comes for students to contribute with foreign knowledge. For example, a young Mexican immigrant kid becomes a resident in the United States and plans to join the military, chances are that they will have an idea on how Mexico runs the country and where their headquarters are. Also, the Mexican kid can have a better verbal communication with a Mexican soldier. There can be a situation where Mexican soldiers can get the wrong idea of U.S. troops and if we have a Mexican soldier, then he or she can communicate that the U.S. does not mean any trouble.

The Dream Act also benefits Universities. With more students actually attending college,