On October 5 a Latino Education Policy Forum was held to discuss the possibility of making Washington state funds for higher education available to undocumented high school graduates. The forum was held by the Latino/a Educational Achievement Program (LEAP), an organization that seeks the betterment of academic achievement among Hispanic students in the state of Washington.
So far, LEAP has had one major policy approved by the state legislature – House Bill 1079, which passed in 2003 and is explained by their website as allowing “undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at state colleges and universities.”
Many supporters of the new plan see it as the next logical step following 1079. The fact is that the amount of Latino students in not only Washington, but the entire country, is steadily increasing. Those who oppose legislation giving these students the opportunity to receive a higher education ignore the dangers of leaving them behind.
The real problem isn’t that there are students here illegally, it is that they are an increasingly marginalized part of the population. According to immigrationpolicy.org, every year there are approximately 65,000 undocumented students graduating from high school with no way to further their education. It simply makes no sense to punish people for having parents who broke one law.
Despite the fact that these students were brought to the United States by their parents at a very young age, they are being punished by the system as well as facing prejudice. A commenter on the Seattle Times website said, “Illegal is a good description of these lawbreakers. And they should be deported with extreme prejudice.”
This attitude is rather harsh and is unfortunately not very uncommon. For some reason people get angry at the notion of giving people opportunities to contribute to the betterment of society. Seems slightly ironic considering we live in “the land of opportunity.”
The fundamental flaw in the argument against this legislation is a belief that we seek to reward illegal activities. On the contrary, it is to improve the standing of disenfranchised groups in our society for the improvement of the country as a whole.
There will always be undocumented workers and students in the United States and a portion will live here in Washington State. Instead of denying students the opportunity to receive a higher education we should attempt to educate larger portions of the population in order to create a more prosperous country.
The director of LEAP Ricardo Sanchez stated, “These are bright, gifted kids who deserve and want to go to college. It would put them in a position to repay the substantial education investment we have made in them.” We need to look past whether or not a person was brought here illegally in order to realize that an educated person does not only help themselves, they help society at large.
It is important to take into consideration the sheer number of Latinos in the United States. I can honestly see no benefit to ignoring the largest minority group in the country.
Additionally, this is a matter of compassion and fairness. State Senator Ed Murray stated, “I feel so strongly about the justice and need for this that I plan to make passage one of my top legislative properties in 2013.” Again, there is no need to punish these students. Higher education should not be reserved for a small privileged group.
The education of undocumented students in this country will continue to be an issue. We need to look past prejudices in order to see that the education of the population includes these students. Ignoring such a large portion of society is not only unjust, it will prove to be immensely detrimental.
