It may be tempting to parse every word of President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night, but the omissions are far more illuminating. The law that would provide citizenship to those who were raised here as Americans (despite their parent’s unlawful status) and who promise to serve in the military or attend school is only referred to, but not actually identified. That was no accident. What do you do with a policy known as the DREAM Act but that was defeated by Senate Republicans? Simply, take away its name. Instead of resurrecting the DREAM Act, as many immigration advocacy groups heralded Tuesday night, Obama is pushing the Republicans closer to a compromise that they can’t afford to oppose.
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It seems unfair to limit the benefits of citizenship to citizens. Why not just abolish the requirement of citizenship for any government program or benefit? You shouldn't get special privileges in America just because you're an American citizen. Think of all those non-citizens out there - almost seven billion of them. Who going to take care of them?
I think the drive to train a million high-tech workers, or scientists, ignores the fact that those fields are difficult and technical and ultimately the wrong reason to tell kids to become Americans. It's a false promise. Do your math Jose or someday the Feds will get you! All children brought here by parents by no fault of their own should be granted Citizenship upon high school graduation.
This was one of many panders to various special interests in the State of the Union speech. It was if Obama had a check list of constituencies he needed to grovel to, and Hispanics got checked off. The country needs to remove all rewards for breaking immigration law, and this will be the biggest obstacle to the "dream" act. Reform cannot offer ANY amnesty. If all the rewards are removed, the self deportation will solve the problem.
Imagine a family living in Nashua, NH. Both parents work in Massachusetts. Their daughter applies to UMass-Lowell. Even though both parents pay taxes to support the school, they pay out of state tuition. Meanwhile, in Lawrence, an illegal alien also applies to UMass-Lowell. Under the DREAM Act, that student would qualify for in-state tuition and financial aid. Congratulations. You've actually made it more advantageous to be an illegal alien than an American citizen. Further, since the DREAM Act only requires the alien to take steps towards legal status, there's every chance they will graduate with a degree but not be able to legally take a job. Any law that makes it more beneficial to be an illegal alien over being a citizen is totally intolerable, and its advocates beneath contempt.