01 June 2007

Who's Dream?

I'm for sensible immigration reform, but something from Sen Harry Reid's website has me upset. It's called the Dream Act. In a nutshell it supports providing in-state tuition and financial aid for "for young people who aren’t U.S. citizens". I support a path to citizenship for hard working folks who are here to make a better life for their family. I understand that we can't and shouldn't round up all illegal immigrants and send them packing. But before we give them special consideration, maybe we should make in state tuition available to military dependents. Normally these kids don't have a choice of what their state of residence is, one of the many sacrifices they make so their mom or dad can serve. We also have a large class of people who aren't rich, but earn too much money to qualify for federal aid (OK I'm being a little selfish here). Why should I subsidize someone else dream at the expense of my own kids?
In principle, I support President Bush on the compromise bill, however if this provision makes it into the final bill in conference it will be a bitter pill to swallow.

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