Congress is debating the DREAM act, which would give the children of undocumented immigrants the opportunity to normalize their status, and thereafter gain citizenship, if they server in the military or get a college education. If there was ever a no-brainer, this is it, and polls show widespread support for it. Businesses support it. Human rights groups support it. But….and you know when it comes to immigration, there’s always a but….there’s a group of vocal conservatives who are dead-set against it. I may not fully understand their logic, but as best as I can tell, it boils down to, “If we pass this, then we will encourage more 5-year-old children to convince their parents to come to the U.S. so they can join the military and go to college.”
Seriously, that’s the best I can do. Changing the law is obvious, for so many reasons. These kids came to this country not by choice, but along with their parents, and not holding children culpable for the crimes of their parents is a legal and moral concept that has a pretty long history. We’ve already spent tens of thousands of dollars educating them in public schools, so deporting them after having spent all that time and money is poor economics. As baby boomers retire, we’re going to need young, college-educated workers to replace them. People with degrees and secure employment tend to be the stabilizing forces that communities yearn for. And on and on and on. Bottom line, there are a whole host of moral, economic, and practical reasons why the DREAM act is a good idea. There are no reasons why it isn’t, unless you count “punishing kids to send a message” a valid reason. Which I don’t.
Look, the fact that we have a serious immigration problem is readily apparent. But opposing the DREAM act does not solve that problem. It’s not in the same area code. If you want to stop people from coming to this country to look for work, incentivize businesses not to hire undocumented workers. It’s not rocket science. What won’t work, and in fact what is disgustingly wrong, is to punish a high school student who wants to go to college for the sins of their parents when they were 4 years old. I’d hazard to guess that when people come to this country seeking work, it’s not because their young children may be able to get into college in 15 years.
It’s issues like these that really make me wonder about the future of our society.