Invasion Upon Our Shores: Higher Education’s Closing Door

As an Austin resident, I watched plenty of ads on TV with politicians talking about how they would be tough on immigration (usually with a gun in front of a long, menacing fence).  Illegal immigrants are a menacing, mooching population in Texas. Currently, in Texas, legislators are trying to repeal in-state tuition for undocumented students.

Currently, in Texas, two percent of undergraduates and community college students on in-state tuition in Texas are undocumented immigrants. These students are able to attend higher education because of the Dream Act, which was passed under Governor Rick Perry in 2001.They can also receive state-sponsored financial aid. The above conditions would occur if the student swore to go through the process of becoming a legal resident.

While Texas is not obligated to provide higher education to undocumented immigrants (Plyer v. Doe[1]), Texas legislators passed the bill because they sought to develop these Texas residents, after having invested at least a K-12 education in them.

However, Texas legislators see this as unfair to out-of -state students; they argue that the out-of-state students are citizens, paying taxes in their home states and to the federal government[2] [3].

Passage of this bill to repeal the Dream Act would prematurely terminate several thousand students’ education. Moreover, it would suppress the potential of another several thousand students, who would see higher education out of their reach.

My parents, as I have said before, went through the right steps in order to become US citizens. But this does not bar me from believing that sons do not bear sins of the father—making the dangerous move from one country to another isn’t the child’s choice, and as taxpayers, they should be getting some benefit of residency. Undocumented immigrants still would have trouble getting a license, getting a job, and generally experience more difficulties that most residents would.  In-state tuition is just a small step towards a happier ending.

Shannon Zhang

View all posts