Derecho De Educacion Para Latino En Us

Willy Williams-Brown
Lindsay Everitt
ENGL102-English Composition II
March 16, 2012
Individual Project

Research Title: Illegal Immigrant and Education

Refine and Limit Topic: Should Illegal Immigrants have the right to obtain a College Education?

Some friends struggle to obtain a college education in the U.S due to their illegal status. Valuable and talented people, who have dreamsand ambitions of a greater life than the ones they have known, deserve an education. Those friends were born here, grew up here, and were high scholastic achievers. Some of them were brought here at a very young age by their parents, facing very a very dangerous path just to arrive to Promised Land. Through this research process will explore their rights; moreover, how the law protects andencourages the authorities to help change those people lives.

Over three million students’ graduate from U.S. high school every year. Most get the opportunity the test their dreams and live their American stories However, a group of 65,000 of these students do not get this opportunity (DREAM Act Portal), condemning them to stay in poverty and neediness for the rest of their lives. Other statisticsspeak of kids who can’t even access primary education because of their legal status. “In 1982, the Supreme Court of Texas ruled in Plyer v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202(1982), that public schools were prohibited from denying immigrant students access to a public education. The court stated that undocumented children have the same right to a free public education as U.S. citizens and permanent residents.”(Soltero). That ruling also stated no student could be barred on the basis of legal status or alleged status. Moreover, the schools are prohibited to “inquire about a student’s immigration status, including requiring documentation of a student’s legal status at initial registration or at any other time [during his school process] (Soltero). The base and foundation for this ruling was The FourteenthAmendment of The U.S. Constitution.

The Fourteenth Amendment, section 1 says, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State depriveany person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” (Cornell). 30 years have passed since “Plyer v. Doe” and authorities are still violating the 14th Amendment.

Many people are still unable to obtain an education, aa are not equally treated with regards to this ruling and the US Constitution.This is disabling talented children; this country is neglecting post-secondary education for children who can be future leaders of tomorrow. Based on this belief, and with the backing of Congressman Luis Gutierrez, the 107th session of Congress (2010) was introduced to the “DREAM Act” bill. The bill introduced an initiative that would provide residency to certain illegal aliens. These futurecitizens must be of good moral character, arrived in the US by the age of 16, graduate from US high schools, and lived in the country continuously for at least five years. A six year “trial citizenship” would be offered after the completion of two years in the military or two years at a four year institution of higher education. This would provide the status needed for those who deserve to have anopportunity, to change their lives and their families.

The people behind this bill supported the initiative based on facts obtained through intensive research and data collection. The facts state how beneficial the approval of the DREAM Act would be for the country. It will contribute to our military’s recruitment efforts expanding the base for those who want to join the forces and protect our...