Right for America or Wrong for Illegals? DREAM Act Takes Center Stage

Interesting article by Steven A. Camarota is the Director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies. I am only posting a portion of it, the rest can be found at http://www.cis.org/dream-act-costs READ THE ARTICLE. THEN QUIT SITTING AROUND COMPLAINING TO THE REST OF US AND CONTACT YOUR SUPPOSED REPRESENTATIVES BECAUSE I'M SURE GOING TO. YOU CAN TAKE THE TIME TO TRACK DOWN THEIR EMAIL ADDRESS. LET THEM KNOW HOW YOU FEEL, NOT SOME COMMENT BOARD. TIME IS SHORT, DO SOMETHING. Estimating the Impact of the DREAM Act By Steven A. Camarota November 2010 Memorandums This Memorandum examines the costs and likely impact of the DREAM Act currently being considered by Congress. The act offers permanent legal status to illegal immigrants up to age 35 who arrived in the United States before age 16 provided they complete two years of college. Under the act, beneficiaries would receive in-state tuition. Given the low income of illegal immigrants, most can be expected to attend state schools, with a cost to taxpayers in the billions of dollars. As both funds and slots are limited at state universities and community colleges, the act may reduce the educational opportunities available to U.S. citizens. Among the findings: •Assuming no fraud, we conservatively estimate that 1.03 million illegal immigrants will eventually enroll in public institutions (state universities or community colleges) as a result of the DREAM Act. That is, they meet the residence and age requirements of the act, have graduated high school, or will do so, and will come forward. •On average, each illegal immigrant who attends a public institution will receive a tuition subsidy from taxpayers of nearly $6,000 for each year he or she attends, for total cost of $6.2 billion a year, not including other forms of financial assistance they may also receive. •The above estimate is for the number who will enroll in public institutions. A large share of those who attend college may not complete the two full years necessary to receive permanent residence. •The cost estimate assumes that the overwhelming majority will enroll in community colleges, which are much cheaper for students and taxpayers than state universities. •The estimate is only for new students not yet enrolled. It does not include illegal immigrants currently enrolled at public institutions or those who have already completed two years of college. Moreover, it does not include the modest number of illegal immigrants who are expected to attend private institutions. •The DREAM Act does not provide funding to states and counties to cover the costs it imposes. Since enrollment and funding are limited at public institutions, the act's passage will require some combination of tuition increases, tax increases to expand enrollment, or a reduction in spaces available for American citizens at these schools. •Tuition hikes will be particularly difficult for students, as many Americans already find it difficult to pay for college. Research indicates that one out of three college students drops out before receiving a degree. Costs are a major reason for the high dropout rate. •In 2009 there were 10.2 million U.S. citizens under age 35 who had dropped out of college without receiving a degree. There were an additional 15.2 million citizens under age 35 who had completed high school, but never attended college. •Lawmakers need to consider the strains the DREAM Act will create and the impact of adding roughly one million students to state universities and community colleges on the educational opportunities available to American citizens. •Providing state schools with added financial support to offset the costs of the DREAM Act would avoid the fiscal costs at the state and local level, but it would shift the costs to federal taxpayers. •Advocates of the DREAM Act argue that it will significantly increase tax revenue, because with a college education, recipients will earn more and pay more in taxes over their lifetime. However, several factors need to be considered when evaluating this argument: ?Any hoped-for tax benefit is in the long-term, and will not help public institutions deal with the large influx of new students the act creates in the short-term. ?Given limited spaces at public institutions, there will almost certainly be some crowding out of U.S. citizens - reducing their lifetime earnings and tax payments. ?The DREAM Act only requires two years of college; no degree is necessary. The income gains for having some college, but no degree, are modest. ?Because college dropout rates are high, many illegal immigrants who enroll at public institutions will not complete the two years the act requires, so taxpayers will bear the expense without a long-term benefit.

This is why I say NO! to this dream act/amnesty. I also have included the URL's for verification of all the following facts... 1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments. Verify at: http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters7fd8 2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens. Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.HTML 3.$2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens. Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.HTML 4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English! Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt..0.HTM 5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies. Verify at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML 6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/%20TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML 7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens. Verify at: http://transcripts.CNN.com/TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML < The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR AND IF YOU'RE LIKE ME, HAVING TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY; IT IS $338,300,000,000.00 WHICH WOULD BE ENOUGH TO STIMULATE THE ECONOMY FOR THE CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTRY. So if this is what it has cost us for them being here illegally. How much more is going to cost us to let them stay?

Dream or nightmare? I, as most Americans, know many Mexican-Americans who have worked honorably and built self-supporting families here. It does not follow that our borders are to be ignored, or that those who flaut our laws should be accommodated by the likes of Harry Reid.

Any Republican in Congress who supports the spending of one dime on illegals during near 10% unemployment, other than to deport them, will be shown the door right along with Dems in 2012. Just so they know.

This should probably be called the (further) DRAIN Act as it is another tapping into our Social Safety Net by ILLEGAL immigrants. How long will it take for those that support illegals realize what a drain they are upon our system? If we looked at each individual example, my heart goes out for them as they have been taken advantage of by THEIR PARENTS!! Our Country is BROKE!!! We cannot afford to take in illegal immigrants or their children as they are a drain on Our Country. Deport them along with their parents and have them immigrate the way they are supposed to instead of breaking the law. This whole situation is bereft of Common Sense to even entertain the idea of giving a break to people that are in Our Country illegally.

So it looks like the passage or failure of this depends on getting elected not what is best for the country.

I've worked and paid taxes since my mid-teens I've served honorably in the military and am a disabled vet who has to beg for VA benefits. Why does our country pander to illegals who demand public assistance, schools, health care and free handouts? What is wrong with this thinking?

If it doesn't send them back to where ever home is - even if the illegals had kids in our country - then it's not worth the paper it's written on.

You already have job discrimation taking place. Notice the number of bilingual ads lately when many US schools do not teach Spanish? Face it: American citizens are being driven out of thier own nation. I'm not against immigration, but enough is enough. When you have other nations which require taking tests, knowing the language, and being sponsored, the US all you need to do is just cross over the border. While I feel bad for these kids, I feel badly for kids who are American citizens who cannot attend college due to rising costs and cannot find jobs. But of course the Democratic party could not give a toss about American kids. It's all about the votes and power...not what is right.

"We don't hate you, we just want you to leave". - Mohatma Gandhi