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ASBSU Senate is asked to support DREAM Act
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The Associated Students of Boise State University Senate was asked Thursday to voice its support of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act now being argued in the U.S. Legislature.
The DREAM Act is aimed to amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. The DREAM Act would remove the section of the IIRIRA, which discourages states from providing in-state tuition to undocumented students.
Ro Parker, advisor to the BSU Cultural Center, asked the senate to put away its tendencies to believe that what is out of the realm of their set value systems is invalid.
“We need to fight the inclination to put aside thoughts that go against our beliefs,” Parker said. “Some people see (illegal immigration) as breaking the law and that is it. We should ask ourselves why that law is being broken in the first place.”
Many students spoke in favor of the act, stating that the bill would only apply to students who have had the majority of their education in the United States. The students also argued that the majority of illegal (or undocumented, as they preferred to call them) Americans only come to the U.S. to remain with their families who emigrate. They also discussed the fact that charging these students out-of-state tuition ($6,093 per semester at BSU) goes well beyond their capabilities to pay for higher education.
“How can we ask a student to pay for an education that costs more than they actually make?” asked BSU student Liliana Rodriguez.
“What if you could not pursue higher education and that was your American dream?” Parker asked the senate.
Opponents of the act state that illegal immigrants do not pay taxes, that they don’t put money back into the U.S. economy, that they are a drain on the U.S. health-care system and a thousand other reasons as to why they should not be allowed to receive benefits from the U.S. government. Some argue that since foreign exchange students pay out-of-state tuition, so should illegal immigrants.
“We are punishing people for the choices their parents made,” said Audra Green of the Idaho Progressive Alliance and a BSU English-as-a-Second-Language instructor. “Immigrants are paying taxes everyday.”
It was said at the senate meeting that since Idaho charges a sales tax, that food and basic needs are taxes for immigrants. Also, speakers addressed the fact that all workers are given a tax identification number, not a social security number.
When they pay taxes they also put into the social security fund, but can never receive its benefits.
The resolution to support the act was sent to a third reading of the legislation next Thursday at
4:40 p.m.
Dustin Lapray
Arbiter staff