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questionsihave
12-24-2008, 08:05 PM
http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_12104.shtml

Many believe that under Obama and a predominantly Democratic Congress, more Hispanics may get a chance of attending college with the help of comprehensive immigration reform. In a questionnaire response to the League of United Latin American Citizens, Obama wrote that he'd put the issue back on the nation's agenda during my first year in office.

But Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which promotes stricter immigration controls, says Obama will have even more trouble than his predecessor in passing immigration reform.

While Obama has been committed to amnesty, so was George W. Bush and that was during a period of relative economic prosperity and low unemployment, Mehlman says.

There's been something like 650,000 layoffs in the past three months. The priority for most Americans is that you get something done on the economy and try to get them back to work before you help people who violated our immigration laws.

The issue of legalizing the undocumented children of those immigrants may be another matter. Obama has gone on record as a strong supporter of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, a plan that would legalize undocumented children who want to attend college or join the armed forces. Legal status would allow them to qualify for federal aid and more affordable in-state tuition in places, like Arizona, that have outlawed in-state tuition for students who cannot prove their legal status.

We know of students in high school who were going to go to the University of Arizona or coming to us at Pima Community College who simply cannot because they can't afford the out-of-state tuition, says Dr. Roy Flores, chancellor of Pima Community College.

Unless they're going to wholesale round up these children and dump them on the other side of the border, Flores adds, then make an effort to educate them.

questionsihave
12-24-2008, 08:11 PM
http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_12118.shtml

This is another one. More focus on the DREAM Act.

But supporters say the DREAM Act is essential to help thousands of undocumented students who graduate college but face restrictions on legal employment in the United States. These youth also lack legal access to driver's licenses, credit and loans, they say.

In addition, the measure could help many students pay in-state tuition rates after their first two years of college. It's something that has broad popularity, Driver says.

Supporters also are emphasizing the economic benefits of the legislation. According to Driver, college-educated students who can't get jobs because of their legal status have cost the state of California $11 billion alone in lost economic power. It's a low-cost solution. We know the cost to the economy if we don't enact it, she tells Diverse.

Congress in the past has considered the DREAM Act as a standalone bill and as one part of a comprehensive immigration reform package. Student groups want the former option for 2009.

The best plan for the DREAM Act is as a standalone bill, USSA's Peoples says. With its focus on helping children who came to the United States with their parents, the public can view it as an education access issue rather than a large, divisive immigration plan. BAMN, USSA, change.org and others already are focusing on the Obama transition effort, while many blogs from students and nonprofit groups are rallying support for January.

USSA also is planning call-ins, a fax campaign and a pledge card effort to inundate Capitol Hill, Peoples says. A lot of students are mobilized, she adds.