Should the government provide free public education to children of illegal immigrants - Essay Example

Arguments for Educating • Moral justification since the children are underage and did not choose to be illegals • Criminal potential; uneducated immigrants might become criminals in future • The American dream, America should welcome those who are projected for fighting for its ideologies in their countries such as democracy • Economic Social and Educational Value, immigrants can play a role in the developing the country as teachers or business people IV. Conclusion • Educating of immigrants children has both positive and negative impacts • The position of Americans on the issue has softened over time • These children should be given a chance at a better future Four hundred years ago, America welcomed visitors and immigrants from all over the world, with the passage of time, generations of these people and their descendants became the citizens of the United States.

However, of late, immigration has become thorny topic and the American borders are no longer open to all due to a myriad of demographic and security issues. For one to become a citizen, there is a long process to be followed, and few people have the patience or the means to follow this up. Despite the legal restrictions, America is still, in the eyes of many people a haven of prosperity and security, and this has resulted to illegal immigrants who cross over the border through either land or sea to try their luck in the states.

President Obama through the Dream act gave immigrant’s children who have been brought up in America a chance to pursue their education, which was previously impossible due to legal restrictions (Orchowski, 2010). This has elicited a myriad of reactions from different quarters with some agreeing, but many set against this move. This paper is will discuss the two sides of the argument and attempt to argue out that the children of immigrants should be given a chance at an education in the United States.

Americans opposing this often have come up with several arguments to support their position; they include claiming that; allowing the children of these immigrants access to public education in America is self-defeating. This is because it implies that the American government is using taxpayer’s money to fund the US border patrol to keep out illegal immigrants, while at the same time educating their children from the same coffers. They argue that the education of immigrant’s children will drive up the taxes especially in view if the fact that their parents, who have no social security numbers, do not pay taxes, as such it is the taxpayer who will bear the whole burden.

In addition, another argument is that the education of illegal immigrants is a slap in the face of those legal migrants who have worked hard and paid the taxes. Besides, immigrants might be an encouragement to come to the country purposefully, so that they can get an education hence, in the end, they will spur more immigrants to come over escalating the illegal immigrants problems. To mitigate this, the Dream act covers only the children who had been in America before it was enacted, but admittedly, it will be hard to ensure it will not encourage future immigrants to cross over illegally.

While one must concede that these arguments are valid largely, they do not tell the whole story; neither do they represent all the variables that arise when an immigrant’s child is educated in the states. At the need of the day, it is essential one considers the advantages of