Linked by David Adams on Wed 6th Apr 2005 20:21 UTC
This month's Wired magazine has a terriffic story about a team of students from a high school in an economically depressed part of Phoenix, who took part in an underwater-robot building competition against students from the top universities in the country -- and won. All of the students are undocumented Mexican immigrants who don't qualify for most financial aid or even in-state tuition, and therefore can't afford to attend college, in the US, Mexico, or anywhere. When I read the article I determined to try to do something to help give these kids their chance, and I was delighted to discover that their faculty advisor has set up a scholarship fund for them, and I'm about to donate some money to help. I'd like to encourage OSNews readers to read the story, and if they feel the same way, to donate.
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I'd like to pose a question to those who have expressed some rather callous anti-immigrant sentiment. If these had been kids from a Juarez, Mexico, high school who had won the same competition, and were in the same situation, and wanted to attend college, would you feel differently? Would you feel that they had no right to accept a private scholarship to attend a US (or Mexican) university.
Frankly, the fact that these kids are illegal immigrants is mostly irrelevant. It's like original sin. They did receive the opportunity to be discovered, and to participate in this contest, which they wouldn't have had otherwise, but now that they have been identified for their capabilities, they should be shoved back down because of a crime that their parents committed?
I also believe that open borders are in the US national interest, but the truth is that the economy needs a certain number of immigrants to do the work that natural-born citizens won't do. There's a trick balancing act, that we're not doing very well, but spouting off anti-immigrant platitudes isn't going to help any more than the anti-Irish, anti-Italian, anti-Polish sentiments that were widespread in past eras did. Let's focus on finding real solutions, rather than encouraging illegal immigration with one hand and decrying it with the other, which is the current US policy.