TERM PAPER College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

TERM PAPER College - Essay Example With no federal action on the issue, states have been left to devise their own answers to the tuition controversy, leaving supporters on both sides to prevaricate about the repercussions of the law established by the Federal government in 1996, which restricts states from offering benefits to illegal immigrants that any U.S. citizen would not also be entitled to obtain. In fact, at the time of writing (2005), illegal aliens could qualify for in-state tuition rates in nine states, including Texas and California, as well as Kansas but a lawsuit against the Kansas ruling however, coupled with the failure of eighteen other states approving similar policies, reflected the widespread unease about such benefits. Opponents challenging the law claim: it violates the federal statute as well the equal rights clause within the Constitution; that money is not the issue but that it is more a matter of principal and is regarded by some as a kind of back-door amnesty; that American taxpayers will be forced to pay for illegal aliens to replace their own children in the limited seats in college and are worried that granting one privilege would open the flood gates to other benefits currently held for legal residents, and they believe that we all have dreams and they are taking the places away from American residents/citizens. The counterargument however, is that the undocumented children who graduated with diplomas from U.S. high schools in 2005 should now have the opportunity to enter colleges and universities. They believe that it is in our best interests to educate them and denying the American dream for thousands of students, and considering all the pressure placed on children to excel in school, it is only fair to give them an opportunity to continue their education. However, they cannot afford to pay the out-of-state rates charged by the institutions and should therefore, qualify for in-state rates. From this article we can see that questions relating to in-state tuition abound. The fact of the matter is that the country is deeply divided and, without any direction from Federal government, this fracas in the immigration conflict, this question of whether to grant or deny in-state tuition status to students living in a state illegally, is being contested one to one, state to state, and bill to bill. From my perspective, I think that it is not difficult to workout the reasons why giving financially supported tuition to illegal aliens is extremely unpopular. Parents are paying large amounts of money to send their children to universities and colleges, and people are apt to get concerned when they learn that someone who is in the United States in violation of the law is getting as good or a better deal as their own children. Maybe the real concern is that there will be youngsters who actually jump through all these hoops who, are rewarded for their illegality. The question is, in our society, do we punish kids for what their parents have committedThe federal government has not