South Carolina college students get the boot

The Coffee Shop
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On the plus side, finding a good parking spot should get a little easier next semester.** **

South Carolina Colleges ban illegal immigrants

MYRTLE BEACH — Dayana Rodrigues carries a bucket of cleaning solutions and a vacuum with her to work. She used to clean houses to pay for college. Now, she is a career maid who speaks three languages.

Rodrigues, 20, graduated in the top 5 percent of her high school class in 2007 and completed nursing prerequisites at Horry-Georgetown Technical College — all As and one B.

In January, the college refused to re-enroll the returning student because she is an undocumented immigrant. “You know it’s not personal,” she said. “But it is.”

The South Carolina Illegal Immigration Reform Act became law in June and, among other measures, banned illegal immigrants from attending colleges and universities that receive state money.

Supporters of the ban feel strongly that taxpayers’ money should not fund a school that is educating lawbreakers. They also worry that illegal immigrants could take up spots in colleges that might otherwise go to legal residents.

Opponents said it’s unfair to punish children for their parents’ crimes.

South Carolina is the first to legalize such a ban, although other Southern states have restrictive policies. For instance, North Carolina and Alabama bar undocumented people from attending community colleges.

In defense of the legislation, Gov. Mark Sanford said: “You got to draw a line in the sand somewhere and that is, are you an illegal immigrant or are you a legal immigrant? There are certain rights and privileges that seem to me would go with being a legalized citizen versus not. To me, the age of the young person is less in question than the legality of their citizenship.”

Zug points to the federal DREAM Act, introduced in 2005, as counterpoint. The act, which has failed to win congressional approval, would open a path to citizenship for people 16 or younger when they entered the country and who entered five years before the act’s passage. After earning an associate degree or serving two years in the military, a person could get conditional residency. And after the six years, and a demonstration of good moral character, the person would be able to apply for citizenship.(…)

http://www.charleston.net/...gal_immigrants71793/

Can someone explain the logic behind affording access to taxpayer-funded primary, but not taxpayer-supported secondary, education? Are we really that short on chambermaids, dishwashers and leafblowers?

Will congress push a revamped DREAM act before the 2010 midterm elections? Then-Senator Obama voted for its passage, but it was far from universally supported among his Democratic senate colleagues.

(Meanwhile, Governor Sanford continues his march toward the 2012 GOP nomination…)

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Its sad when the rubber meets the road , Its their own fault . They can count their blessings , in other countries not that long ago " NO PAPERS " will get you a 9mm vacation .

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Perhaps in short time South Carolina will expand the SCIIRA to apply to primary schools as well.

But what to do with the sudden influx of idle juveniles?

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I’m having a hard time feeling bad that someone who is in this country illegally is being refused access to our tax dollars. It’s obviously not this girl’s fault that her parents came here illegally, but that doesn’t change her immigration status.

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I’m having a hard time feeling bad that someone who is in this country illegally is being refused access to our tax dollars. It’s obviously not this girl’s fault that her parents came here illegally, but that doesn’t change her immigration status.
I couldn’t have said it better.

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It their own fault .

It is? How is it her fault?

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It their own fault .

It is? How is it her fault?
She is here illegally how is it not her fault. Her parents brought her here but she decided to stay here.

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It their own fault .

It is? How is it her fault?
*Enter the system illegally.*The law is black and white and sometimes it is gray but in the end those are the rules period,end of game.

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"She is here illegally how is it not her fault. Her parents brought her here but she decided to stay here. "

As I said, whose fault it is is kind of beside the point, but that said, when you were a college freshman, would you have had the wherewithal to leave the country you knew and start a new life somewhere else by yourself?

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It isn’t like illegals don’t pay taxes to support public services. Some may avoid income tax, but many are paying it with fake ssn’s, so they’re paying into things like social security that they will never get a benefit back out of. They’re also paying gasoline taxes, sales tax, sin taxes, property taxes (via rent), etc. It’s pretty much impossible to live here and avoid paying taxes on many levels.

There’s a lot of good arguments for denying service, but based on not paying taxes, I don’t agree.

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"She is here illegally how is it not her fault. Her parents brought her here but she decided to stay here. "

As I said, whose fault it is is kind of beside the point, but that said, when you were a college freshman, would you have had the wherewithal to leave the country you knew and start a new life somewhere else by yourself?
Your situation doesn’t make sense. I am a US citizen, so I have never been in the situation where I have been living in a country illegally.

When I was a college freshman I was 17-18 and wanted to get as far away from my family and the people I knew as possible. I applied to colleges all over the country and went to a school that was 300 miles away, which isn’t that far, and no one from my high school had gone there in 8 years. During my FR year I decided that I wanted to study aboard and went to live and study in France during my 2nd semester of my sophomore year, I was 18-19. I knew no one in France and was taking classes with complete strangers from around the world. After being there for one semester I decided to apply for another 6 month student visa and stay for another semester and would have stayed longer but I had to get back to the states to finish up my engineering degree.

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“Some may avoid income tax, but many are paying it with fake ssn’s”

I’d say most are avoiding it and some are paying with fake SSNs. You’ll have to forgive me if I’m not willing to give them all access to my tax dollars based on the few that are compounding their illegal immigration status by illegally using a fake SSN.

“There’s a lot of good arguments for denying service, but based on not paying taxes, I don’t agree.”

In this case, I think we’re strictly talking about access to State supported schools. I don’t think that money comes from gas taxes, sales taxes, or sin taxes as much as it comes from State income taxes, which most illegal immigrants do not pay.

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She actually shot herself in the foot by deciding to stay illegally. She could have got back home. Once there, apply for school in the US, get an F1 visa, as a student, and then try to become a permanent resident. Good students have no problem doing it, and they all benefit from the optional training period which allows them to work for 1 year in the US. This gives them time to find an employer willing to either sponsor an H1-type visa or a green card.
Several issues though. It does cost money. And, sometimes lawyers mess up the visa process, and you end up in a somewhat difficult situation, despite everything done right.

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If they’re avoiding taxes altogether, then it’s the employer that is the problem.

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I’m having a hard time feeling bad that someone who is in this country illegally is being refused access to our tax dollars. It’s obviously not this girl’s fault that her parents came here illegally, but that doesn’t change her immigration status.
I couldn’t have said it better.
I agree as well.

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Serious questions, not trying to be a richard at all:

Why do illegal immigrants not take the necessary steps to gain legal status?

And what is it about our immigration process that proves so daunting to some immigrants, but not others?

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  1. not everyone can become a permanent resident of the US.
    You need either qualifications (degrees with restrictions of all sorts, arts, sports), marry a US citizen, enlist (there is a bill to get 50,000 LEGAL immigrants, citizenship in as little as 6 months), refugee status, have tons of money that you want to invest, and probably a few more I’m not aware of.

  2. it costs money and time, and not all employers are willing to pay for the costs (they pay the initial filing, usually around $500, but you pay the rest, change of status etc…amounting to about $5k for a couple).

  3. it takes time if you need to go through labor certification (except in some cases where you either don’t have to do labor certif, which was the case for me, or if you go through the PERM process, usually for academics/scientists).

Those that are here illegally typically know that they fit nowhere in the process and wouldn’t be able to get permanent residence, at least for older adults. The youngsters could elicit to go back home, apply for a student visa, go to school here (assuming they have money), be able to work 19hrs a week, then go through OPT, during which they have a year to get permanent residence.

In short, it takes qualification and/or money. Most illegal immigrants have neither.

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I can’t answer the part about an illegal immigrant gaining legal status, as I don’t know- it seems the only route may be to go back home and try.

The immigration process is a pain in the ass- tons of forms, less than stellar communication, and the service agents can be hit or miss. If none of your forms are lost, you never need to redo fingerprints and not get notified, and the folks in the service office are pleasant and timely- it’s a breeze. We had both ends of the spectrum as my wife went through the whole process from applying for residency through attaining citizenship.

Some of the difficulty may be in the reason for applying for permanent residency- there are boxes to check for employment, marrying a US citizen, student, etc., but not one for “I’ve been here since I was a year old when my parents brought me in illegally, and know nothing else”. The lady in the OP is in kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. She’s been here most of her life, and is trying to better herself. To not allow that is to keep her as someone who will use resources and perhaps forever be at the low end of the socioeconomic spectrum. She might earn good money by working in the ER rather than using it as primary care. Then again, this isn’t a pure meritocracy- you’ve got to be here the right way to get on that merit list. Why should she (or anyone else) have it the easy way when lots of folks spent years and thousands of $ doing it the right way?

There most definitely should be some way for people to “come clean” and become residents, especially those who have been here for the entire portion of their life they can remember. In her (lady in the OP story’s) case, I’d be willing to let her go through school and become a permanent resident provided she worked for some amount of time as a nurse to an underserved population. Once she does that and the requisite amount of time has passed, she can become a citizen.

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I’m having a hard time feeling bad that someone who is in this country illegally is being refused access to our tax dollars. It’s obviously not this girl’s fault that her parents came here illegally, but that doesn’t change her immigration status.

I’m sure you feel the same empathy toward children placed in precarious situations at the hands of their parents, or for parents looking for a better life for their children, as I do. Whether or not you’re willing to apply your tax dollars to their cause is another story, and not the point of my question. Fact is, they’re already gaining access to our tax dollars by admission into our public school system - so why one and not the other?

Would you support a ban on illegals in taxpayer-funded primary public education as well?

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She is here illegally how is it not her fault. Her parents brought her here but she decided to stay here.

Kind of like its your own fault for not dodging a bullet after its been fired?

At what point does it become “their fault” for not leaving? At 5 or 6 should they stand up for what’s right and leave their family and move back to Mexico? Or is that something you expect of them when they are teenagers? Maybe they should start making arrangements to make the journey back so that when they turn 18 they can celebrate their birthday at the border and then step over. Perhaps you expect them to turn their parents in as well.

I’m serious. At what point does staying here become “their fault?” What would you expect any reasonable person to do in their situation. What would you do in their situation?