The other day, I got an email from Delegate Jackson Miller, trumpeting all the work he is doing to stop illegal immigration.  I expected to read that he had taken up personal vigil down on the border considering all the fanfare.  Such was not the case.  In part, his email stated:

 

During the 2011 Virginia General Assembly Session, we will be debating many issues that are important to the Commonwealth, but one issue of particular significance to me is illegal immigration.  As a former police officer with almost two decades of experience, I have seen firsthand the effect that illegal immigration can have on a community.  As your Delegate, I am working hard to find solutions to the many issues and challenges that illegal immigration has presented in our communities and in our Commonwealth.  

 Recently, I appeared on Fox News Channel’s morning program, Fox & Friends, to defend a bill on which I am a co-patron.  This bill, HB1465,   (click for full text)  stipulates that illegal aliens will not be eligible for admission to Virginia’s colleges and universities.  Higher education is a privilege, not a right, and placement in Virginia’s colleges and universities has become increasingly difficult for legal residents of our state to obtain.  This bill will require that all prospective students submit appropriate documentation showing proof of citizenship or a student visa for eligibility for enrollment. 

Let’s see if I understand this correctly.  Miller is attacking illegal immigration by preventing ‘good kids’ from attending college?  Isn’t this akin to shooting fish in a barrel?  Picking low hanging fruit?  As a former police officer, Miller knows what happens with kids when they have no hope or goals.  Kids with no hope or goals often drop out of schools, get into trouble or join gangs. 

I don’t see him tackling the problem of the hard cases.  Instead, Miller is going after the kids who have done the right thing.  These kids who are targeted have come here through no fault of their own.  They have  overcome all odds and have learned English, competed with English-speaking classmates and have suceeded  in their coursework.  Now Miller wants to not only put an unaffordable price tag on higher education, he wants to prevent them from even registering. 

Miller adds further insult by stating that they are lucky to have their k-12 education, thanks to Plyler vs Doe.  I don’t think Supreme Court decisions make us lucky.  Aren’t they validation of rights already there?  Are black student lucky to have Brown vs Board of Eduation?   I can’t imagine why any politician would want to limit education. 

I don’t get it.  At first immigrants were criticized for being uneducated and for not speaking English.  Any attempts made by immigrants to overcome ignorance and inability to speak English are apparently not appreciated either.  In fact, they are so unappreciated that lawmakers are wasting a short session just to make sure they CANNOT ever attend college.  The suggestion made to go back to ‘their country’ and get the documentation is simply disingenuous.  It cannot be done.  These kids are American.  They salute the United States flag.  They speak English. 

Miller needs to rethink this one.   Prince William County and Manassas have all sorts of problems.  We have traffic and road problems, commuter problems, and crime that is becoming more urban in nature.  Our foreclosure issues are still holding our real estate assessment down.  Our county employees haven’t had a raise in 3 years and our classrooms are overcrowded.  It’s time to stop kicking around kids who are doing the right thing.

As a police officer, Delegate Jackson Miller should know better.  So should his his co-patron.  Not Larry Sabato  has an interesting spread on Delegate Chris Peace’s illustrious school career.  Chris Peace gets to be Weenie of the Week  on NLS.   It sounds to be like that award should have been a tie.

I am so disappointed.

 

43 Thoughts to “Low Hanging Fruit”

  1. George S. Harris

    Moon–I understand your feelings but I have some questions. Is this a question of these kids not being allowed to go to state colleges and universities or all colleges and universities in the state? I know there is the issue of them being able to pay in-state tuition and I think I don’t have a problem with that. Yes, they can go school, any school, but at out-of-state tuition rates. Will their admission be at the expense of a student who is a citizen–born here or naturalized? I have a bit of a problem with that. I don’t have a problem with them going to private schools, after all those schools should be allowed to admit anyone they want to admit. What about grants and loans? Should they be eligible for the same grants and loans as citizens–born here or naturalized? If it means that one citizen is denied a grant/loan in favor or a non-citizen, then I am against that.

    If college is to be a path to citizenship ala some future version of the DREAM act, then it shouldn’t be given to folks–college shuldn’t be given to them–they should have to earn it.

  2. Emma

    One of my kids attends a state university (not in VA). Why should we have to pay full tuition when a non-U.S- citizen’s child gets what essentially amounts to a scholarship?

  3. George, first, community colleges pretty much have open admission. So I doubt there would be an issue of any student taking away another student’s opportunity.

    Second, to qualify for government backed loans, you have to have proof of paying taxes and proving eligability. You also have to have a social security or tax ID number. Hence, if parents are paying taxes, there should be no issue there because they have paid their dues.

    Third, encouraging students–especially students in lower socioeconomic statuses–to take out loans, in particular, private loans, is a sentence, not a privilige or opportunity. Private loans (and all student loans, even government backed ones) have NO consumer protections. Unethical schools (many of which are “career schools”) take all the loan money they get from any student who applies, even those who can never graduate (a whole other discussion). Among other problems, these schools offer no remedial programs and/or few, if any, student services. Unethical schools of all types prey upon those who are seeking the dream of making it big in the United States. Instead, what these students get is a lifetime of debt with little real opportunity.

    Finally, don’t you think hard working students deserve to go to college no matter what their status? No one “gives” these students anything–especially their parents who have had to struggle to survive, which is why they are here in the first place.

  4. George S. Harris

    @Posting as Pinko
    Yes, I understand the bit about the so-called “career schools”. I have a nephew who went to one that shall remain nameless and he is still looking for work. Not only that, very few of the “credits” are transferrable to an accredited four year college. Are undocumented workers paying taxes? If so, how did they get a social security number? I disagree that we are not giving undocumented children anything–giving them in-state tuition–if it displaces a citizen–is a gift. Let them pay out -of-state tuition. Let them go to any college/university as long as they don’t displace a citizen. I know that Moon says they speak English, they salute the flag, they are Americans and all I can say is , “No, they are not Americans, they are undocumented foreigners.” I am sorry, but you cannot make them a citizen by fiat.

  5. marinm

    Wow. I agree with George. Common ground!! 🙂

  6. @Emma

    Because that student has lived and been educated by the State of Virginia. Once you survive k-12, what are you really?

    @George, it applies to all state supported schools.

  7. Being able to go to school in Virginia doesn’t make anyone a citizen. Right now I believe you can go to NOVA or community college without proof of legal presence.

    This law would be a mini ANTI-Dream act.

    The kids are here. They aren’t going anywhere. I would rather reap in our k-12 investment.

    I come from a long line of people who dedicated their lives to educating others. When my father died, I felt like I was having a flash back to childhood. Here were all these older men who I had last seen when they were 16 and I was probably 3. There must have been 20 of them all saying that if Coach hadn’t gotten hold of them and told them to make something out of themselves, they wouldn’t be where they were today. All these were Charlottesville boys, some whose names you might recognize.

    Burnley-Moran School is named in part for my great great aunt Miss Carrie Burnley.

    Why would I want to put up a glass ceiling for anyone?

  8. @George

    Workers are given a TIN by the feds. It is a Taxpayer Identification Number. Additionally, these kids live in houses. Someone is paying the property tax, even if a renter. The families of these kids also pay sales tax and vehicle taxes.

    Lots of people grow up American who aren’t citizens.

    The crappy state of affairs with our immigration system should not make these kids ‘men and women without a country.’

  9. @marin, what are you agreeing with George about?

    I am curious. How would you solve the situation? What would you do with some of those bright young faces often sitting up far into the night because of a job, working their tails off to go to college?

    How many people here saying send them back have ever really looked into one of those bright young faces? I have. You don’t say no.

  10. marinm

    Nothing stops these non-citizens from attending private colleges and universities. Some larger schools have endowments large enough that they could even enroll those students without tuition to exert the universities 1A right to protest the government.

    As a taxpayer or a politician I have no say in that. I do have a say in how our public schools are funded and the adminissions policy. My vote goes to denying admission OR accepting a student but at a non-state rate and without government tuition assistance.

    It may be that they’ll not be able to realize the dream of an education (public libraries are still free and I don’t think they check legal status for a library card..yet) but may pass that dream on to the next generation.

  11. Cindy B

    Dream Deferred
    by Langston Hughes

    What happens to a dream deferred?
    Does it dry up
    Like a raisin in the sun?
    Or fester like a sore–
    And then run?
    Does it stink like rotten meat?
    Or crust and sugar over–
    like a syrupy sweet?
    Maybe it just sags
    like a heavy load.
    Or does it explode?

  12. @marin

    Many people cannot afford a private school education.
    Bear in mind that some of these kids are also taxpayers…just as much as you are a tax payer. They live in houses where someone is paying the property tax. They pay sales tax, vehicle tax, often federal and state tax using a TIN.

    The option of paying full tuition in a state school will be removed if this bill passes.

    Part of the foundation of this country is that it doesn’t matter who your parents were. If you are willing to work hard you can meet with success in America. This American thinking dates back to Jamestown.

    This same thinking motivated those who forged foundations to abandon all thought of titles. It kept George Washington from being crowned King of America.

    Who wants to go tell these kids that really, it does matter about who or what their parents were?

  13. Reminder, plenty of people go to American colleges and universities who aren’t citizens of the United States. Legal residents are admitted without question.

    Perhaps if kids graduate from high school with a 3.0 average we could give them legal status. How about that? I would even agree to never allowing them to be citizens or putting a 20 year ban on it. That would rule out the voting issue that everyone seems to fear so much.

    My only objective here is to help deserving kids kick their way through a glass ceiling. I know a little bit about glass ceilings. These kids can no more do anything about their status than I could about being female.

  14. Censored bybvbl

    I’m in favor of allowing the children who have been Virginia schoolkids to continue their educations at Virginia colleges – public or private. Exceptions to standard admissions are routinely made – for athletes, children of alumni/ae, out-of-state and out-of-country students, students who agree to major in certain fields, etc. These kids will probably stay in Virginia and will more likely than not benefit the community. As Langston Hughes notes – the alternative is not pretty.
    Often the second generation is very motivated to get their degrees and contribute to our society. My mother’s father was an immigrant who was test phobic and waited until almost the onset of WWII to become a citizen (his siblings were afraid he’d be deported if he didn’t do it). He had an seventh or eighth grade education. My mother finished college in three years with a double major. Her cousins took similar paths. With each generation the expectation usually is higher.

  15. BS in VA

    I’m the last guy to quote the bible so I won’t. None the less, if one Googles “sins of the father” “new testament”, you can find the argument that the Christian God did want the sins of a father passed down to the child. I think that anyone born here of illegal immigrants or brought here before they reached the age of majority by their illegal immigrant parents should be considered Americans and therefore should be afforded every opportunity to higher education that would be afforded to other Americans. They are my countrymen and I oppose any tyranny that oppresses any of my countrymen. I will vote that way. I will campaign to defeat politicians that think otherwise.

    1. I totally agree, BS. It really is an American issue. These kids had no choice.

      There are those trying to make a point that allowing these kids to go to college is an incentive to the illegal immigrant parents. That is total crap. People that believe that don’t know any illegal immigrants. I am speaking of Latino illegal immigrants now. Most of those parents put very little emphasis on education because it isn’t a strong value in the home. Working hard and providing for family is a value. Often the kids who are trying to go to college are also attempting to overcome a work ethic of their parents that really isn’t supportive of higher education. Even those kids who do get home support would tell us that higher education was not the incentive for their parents to come here.

      We aren’t talking about a huge number of kids.

      And once again, how many nay-sayers have looked into one of those faces who thirsts for knowledge and values academic achievement and have had to say no?

      Miller and Peace are simply playing to their base. Delegate Peace went through a series of private schools: prep school (St. Stephens), Hampton Sidney, Univeristy of Richmond. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, apparently. Perhaps he has never dealt on illegal immigrants on a personal level. However, Jackson Miller knows better. He worked with them as a cop. He also isn’t a priviledged private school kid. He knows the number of young adults is limited. He knows he can score points with who he thinks is his base. He also knows he doesn’t have to look into anyone’s face and tell them no.

      It’s that looking into a real person’s face that is the hard part. He is removed now. What the hell…..

  16. Firedancer

    Thanks for posting this, MH, and calling it for what it is….low-hanging fruit. Bullying hard-working kids who just want….what? An education. Miller can thump his chest and say he’s so big and tough and doing his best to hurt our young people. How does this build a more secure country?

    1. @firedancer

      I don’t know why this is an area where the politicians can feel tough. It is a false sense of power.
      I feel very passionate about an educated society. I dedicated my life to that many years ago.

      I don’t want to hear that kids who go to school with our kids and grandkids and who salute the United States flag every morning with our kids are somehow children of a lesser god and won’t be allowed in college, regardless of how hard the kid studies; regardless of how good the grades are.

      This sounds to me like a new Jim Crow law. Low hanging fruit. let’s bully the kids.

  17. Censored bybvbl

    M-h, when I asked my mother why she went to college when no one else in her immediate family had finished high school, she said that it was because of her teachers. They saw her potential and encouraged her. She was luckier than the students who have to rely on Jackson Miller as their advocate. The message she received was the opposite of his.

  18. @Moon-howler
    “That is total crap. People that believe that don’t know any illegal immigrants. I am speaking of Latino illegal immigrants now. Most of those parents put very little emphasis on education because it isn’t a strong value in the home. Working hard and providing for family is a value.”

    This isn’t a Latino/Hispanic/Spanish thing. It’s a working class thing. Kids from working class families aren’t necessarily encouraged to go to college because it’s hard work that counts. Education is often viewed as a frivolous waste of money. Working to keep the family alive comes first, and often at great sacrifice.

    That said, there are exceptions to the rule. Some working class families want their kids to graduate from college so the kids don’t have to struggle as much as the parents. But these parents have a larger world view, which means they might have had access to at least some education.

    1. @pinko

      I am speaking of the Latino community, not the working class community in general simply because that is really who this bill is directed towards, despite efforts of those who want to dismiss that notion.

      I am not ready to let anyone off the hook. My only point is that education was not an incentive for most Latinos to come to the United States. Therefore, we can put away the magnet notion that groups like numbersusa and FAIR keep talking about.

  19. Firedancer

    It should be a requirement that people who are responsible for making rules and laws interact with those who are impacted their decisions. Jackson Miller should be required to tutor a hardworking child of an illegal immigrant who values her education, speaks only English, and wants only to go to college. Miller might still feel the same way, but perhaps might have a greater sensitivity towards the plight of these youngsters, and understand the shades of gray.

  20. BoyThreeOne

    I saw the film “9500 Liberty.” I remember the scenes of council meetings and the “real” faces of migrant people, many of them youth, testifying eloquently and bravely in the face of outlandish intolerance and hate. It didn’t seem to sway the haters. It wasn’t until the sheriff, a white citizen, was denigrated and falsely accused of misdeeds that many people of good will in the community dared to come forward and speak out, more in support of the sheriff than of their migrant neighbors, though their support did fall on the side of human rights and respect for fellow human beings. I know that there were others, such as those who run this blog, whose priorities were more readily established at the onset. They had the courage to stand up for justice and human civility all along, but they are rare. I don’t know what it takes for people to see that excluding other people from society is negative and harmful. Looking into the real faces of struggling outcasts doesn’t seem to be enough.

    The immigration issue always devolves into one of “us” against “them,” with the “us” group perceiving of “them” as unworthy of sitting at the same table and partaking of the same resources. It’s bigotry by definition, but the “us” people use the concept of “illegality” to create a category of sub-humans. The truth is that poverty and struggle aren’t “illegal.” People who nurture and support each other are ALWAYS doing the right thing, regardless of anyone’s citizenship status or any other status. As Moon-Howler keeps pointing out, migrant people living in this country are, in myriad unavoidable ways, paying into our system anyway. Those who call them “leeches” or other derogatory terms are simply name-calling and elevating their own worth above the worth of “other” lives. Every single human being has value, and helping individuals grow toward their full potential enriches the entire society. Conversely, denying anyone the support necessary for achieving their potential is harmful to all of us.

  21. marinm

    @Moon-howler

    “Part of the foundation of this country is that it doesn’t matter who your parents were. If you are willing to work hard you can meet with success in America. This American thinking dates back to Jamestown.”

    No doubt and this law isn’t aimed at the parents of these children. It’s aimed at the children. If the children are of legal status they don’t have anything to worry about. If they are not of legal status then they do. It’s not a question of the parents — what’s the legal status of the student.

    If they are willing to work hard they might just have to work that little bit harder to get a private education vs. a public one. Education isn’t being taken away wholly but only one route. A route that should not have existed in the first place.

    My hope is that this will motivate those that are in this rough position when they themselves have legal kids that they can provide for and have options available that they didn’t have.

    I didn’t goto college and I turned out fairly well. 😉

    1. @marin, you chose not to go to college. You didn’t have the door slammed in your face.

      I beg to differ. While the proposed law doesn’t appear to be aimed at the parents, it really is. Seriously, what is to be gained keeping a small number of good students out of state supported colleges?

      Why put up a glass ceiling for anyone? What is to be gained. I would think that you would have some empathy. Now I am trying to figure out why you don’t.

      We could easily give the kids a conditional green card and legalizing their status. I guess that would be far too easy.

  22. marinm

    @Pinko & MH,

    Education wasn’t a priority in my household. My sister did end up going to GMU and getting her finance degree but my brother, other sister and I went straight to work.

    1. @marin, and did you find this going straight to work the norm or an anomoly?

      I guess I am asking you, do you agree with me that education is no a magnet for Latino immigration as a rule?

  23. Cindy B

    Encouraging everyone to stay on the path of a lifetime of learning and a more solid foundation for providing for themselves and their families is just plain common sense.

  24. marinm

    I would tend to agree that education is not a priority in latino households. In my household my family would’ve been VERY content if I had married and had a child at 19. At 24 they were asking me “questions”. 😉

    I understand your arguement about “what is to be gained keeping a small number of good students…” and while at some level logical it’s really an emotional one. We have no constitutional duty to provide aid, support or even the same benefits to someone that is not of legal status. It’s unfortunate that it’s the case that some students will suffer but it’s not because of any fault of the taxpayer nor should they be asked to shoulder the burden.

    On this issue I side with the anti-immigration crowd.

    1. @marin

      ARRGGHHHHHH. So why are we allowing students from other countries in to take those hallowed spots that Americans, specifically Virginians, could be sitting in?

      If an immigrant student pays his college fees, what’s the rub? No one is asking anyone else to pay for it.

      Taxpayers will be far better off with every single student, regardless of status, who goes on to get a good paying job. Let’s talk about investment in the future. Those are the people you won’t be footing the bill for.

      It really is a good lesson in pay me now or pay me later. I think the anti immigration crowd, on this issue, is short sighted and has lost touch with one of the core American values.

  25. marinm

    I’m really standing with “taxpayers” but politics makes for strange bed fellows. 😉

  26. marinm

    My guess is diversity or because the college charging more for the foreign student gets to offset in-state tuitions. I’m not quite sure but those holding a student visa go through a legal process. 😉

    I’m of the opinion that if the non-legal student pays out of state tuition without govt assistance I would compromise and say that I support that. Assuming of course the slot they take doesn’t take a slot from an otherwise legal citizen.

    “Taxpayers will be far better off with every single student, regardless of status, who goes on to get a good paying job.”

    Two things. If that’s the case why even require a college education? Why not just say a K-12 education is good enough for a “good paying job” and relax the requirements on fields such as law, medicine and science on having a degree? Secondly, why not let everyone regardless of ability, apptitude and ability to pay to goto college? Won’t the taxpayers be positive in both those scenerios as well?

    Maybe the anti- crowd has done a good job of indoctrinating a latino? 😉

  27. @marin, let’s say I dislike all the foreign students coming in and taking American spots, even though they are paying their own way. I am a tax payer. Asians, Indians, Middle easterns are all taking American slots, in my mind. Is it just tough crap for me?

    As for you siding with the anti immigration crew….you mentioned that you would like to eventually run for public office. How would you explain your stance to potential voters, like the citizen siblings of some of these kids that were barred from going to college?

    Frankly, I am very angry over this bill.

  28. marinm

    I think the voters and taxpayers have dominion over how taxes are spent. If we as Virginia then say that we want to disallow foreigners OR disallow anyone that’s not a Virginian… Sure, I think that’s doable. A tad bit protectionalist but I think lawful. The obvious constraint on that is that it wouldn’t work out financially as out of state tuition helps to subsudize in state.

    I think the appropriate response for para 2 is.. my above answers speak for themselves and I’d appreciate and ask for their vote.

  29. Elena

    I think this is truly a fairly simple issue. If there are kids willing to work hard to better themselves, become productive citizens, it is simply common sense to encourage them. To do otherwise, in my opinion, is cruel and works agaisnt the foundation of a civil society. There are plenty of colleges in this country, private and public, and not all are equal. If there is the suggestion that we do not have enough colleges to fulfill the needs of aspiring young people, the issue is NOT immigration, the issue is WHY do we not have enough affordable colleges??? Do people believe there are millions upon millions of students who fit this criteria?

    I listened to an incredibly bright young woman, going to Rutgers University, who was, as a very young child, brought to the US with her parents. She, along with her parenst, are undocumented. Let me tell you, this country would be LUCKY to have such a dedicated compassionate hard working person become a real part of our community. To deny her, and others like her, the American dream, flies in the face of what brought my great grandparents here from Russia.

  30. Elena

    @buythreeone,
    I agree, when you raise one child up, you raise the entire community, and in the end, we all benefit.

  31. Cindy B

    It’d be pretty sad if Virginia colleges just had Virginians. The whole point of higher education is to broaden your view of the world.

  32. Agreed Cindy. I was trying to give an extreme example.

    I guess I just don’t like codifying meanness. This bill shrieks in the face of everything I believe in. I actually don’t even see it as having anything to do with immigration.

    Kids are kids, regardless of the status of their parents. I think I have been using the wrong term. This ceiling isn’t glass. It is very colorful and wants to be seen. It gets votes.

  33. I have always tried to be fair to Jackson Miller but he is playing too far to the right to be considered moderate now. I have praised him on this blog. This bill will make me take a closer look at some of my past decisions.

    If I were the delegate of the 50th, I would try to remember that I represented all the people rather than just my conservative base. I believe Mr. Miller USED to have a moderate base. I have heard many of those people say never again.

  34. Wolverine

    Couldn’t resist popping in just for a moment. So, you try to deal in a fairer manner with the immigrant kids already here who DO want to go on to college at a reasonable cost — and by reasonable I mean something different than the annual $41,000 tuition (with possible financial aid) at a private school like GWU in the District. But what happens down the line — 10 or 20 years from now? You do not put a cap on this thing and you will, indeed, wind up, with higher education as at least a partial lure for sneaking across the border. We will face the same problem over and over unless we finally get some real cajones and make the current problem finite. Unlike previous eras, this country and its resources are no longer all that elastic. I’ve said this before. You agree to make this problem finite, and I will agree to take a different look at the kids here now. But, if everyone does not get fully behind an overall solid solution to immigration control without a ration of emotionalism, I will have to conclude that I am just being shucked and jived for an immediate goal. Mere lip service to true immigration control just does not cut it for me

    As for the kids themselves, I have posted here that Mrs. W is a big supporter of higher education or advanced vocational training for all students regardless of their peculiar situation. Of late, however, she has been saying some things that make me wonder about the whole exercise on this blog. From reading some of the posts here, you would think that there is a massive number of these kids looking to better themselves through education. She is not seeing that. What she tells me she is seeing more and more is “attitude” among many, many of these kids in her high school (probably over 35% of the school population and rising.) That attitude says to her that many are are not there for education but are treating this as some sort of social opportunity — that is, if they are happy at all to be there. They are taking up more and more teacher time for discipline and more and more dollars for special administrative costs. (She admits that the problem is not confined just to immigrant kids; but she also says that the future of these immigrant kids are the particular issue being addressed here.)

    She, quite bluntly, does not have an answer for this. She is strongly opposed to the idea that we have massive numbers of these kids just itching to go up to higher education — she sees only a handful of those in such a positive mental state. She thinks a big part of this is, indeed, a lack of familial interest in education period. The law says you have to be in school up to a certain age. The law quits after that. She has, however, considered that a prevention from going on to that higher education at a reasonable cost could play some role in this attitude; but she adds that the majority of these kids are going to have to make radical changes in their attitudes and work ethic if they want to get into, much less succeed, in higher education.

    And what she sees is not limited to just one classroom. As a primary and long-time substitute in that high school, she has taught everything under the sun, from advanced math to physical education. (The darn phone never stops ringing here sometimes from Sub Central!!) She is not happy with what she is seeing in this area, especially since it is starting to tear at her own beliefs about giving kids a hand up regardless of their personal situations. She is not susceptible to some of the claims seen here that a whole bunch of these kids may be marching around in high school ROTC uniforms and are, therefore, demonstrating desire and good faith. She wants to see that application in the classroom first and foremost — where it really counts. And she wants to see a vast sea change in the responsibilities placed on and accepted by immigrant parents. (Yeesh, you should have heard her fuming last week. One of the Hispanic girls in her classroom was picked up early by her mother for some reason. The mamma came into the classroom wearing pants that would probably have to be peeled off her and a big pair of bazooms which were near to popping out of her stretch top, nipples and all! Great adult example for the daughter and the other kids!!)

    Get serious about pressing the Dems, the Repubs, AND the Oval Office to get cracking on an acceptable solution for far stricter and honest controls on immigration and you will most likely see some success for the Dream Act, as well as a counter to the Miller proposal — FOR THOSE KIDS WHO ARE HERE NOW. If you don’t and if all we can expect is a future and almost endless continuation of this particular problem, your Dream Act could be a casualty of battle. And that would most certainly be a misfortune for those kids who are here now and who may genuinely want higher education. That, in my opinion, is a workable tradeoff.

    But, there is another thing also. We have to stop letting the immigrant parents off the hook. If there are kids who want to go on to better things, they need those parents themselves to man up and start acting like it is important. You do not need to be in a legal status around here to do that. It is something done within the confines of the family and in relationships with the school staff. ICE will not be in the room.

  35. @Wolverine, I don’t know that I disagree with anything you have said in particular. PWC does have a lot of Latino kids in ROTC programs but….that isn’t an issue with this thread.

    What is being proposed is a mini ANTI-Dream act. In other words, Virginia would not allow any illegal immigrant young adult in any state college or university.

    There aren’t large numbers of kids that would even qualify. First generation kids usually aren’t particularly academic prone. Academics aren’t valued.

    As for the parent in the classroom. No parent should EVER be sent to the classroom. That’s why they make intercoms.

  36. This bill came out of committee.

    House Bill 1465, sponsored by Delegate Christopher Peace, R-Mechanicsville, would require public colleges and universities to have written rules against enrolling “an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States.” Peace said most state schools already have such a policy: “They don’t have to do anything but put it in writing.” The subcommittee folded into Peace’s measure HB 2153, sponsored by Delegate Ben Cline, R-Amherst. Cline’s proposal would make illegal immigrants ineligible for in-state tuition.

    What you aren’t being told is that this measure would now prohibit illegal immigrant kids from attending community college.

  37. Elena

    Does anyone else notice the irony in the Delegate who is proposing this legistlation….”Peace”? sounds more like the antithesis of peace to me.

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