I fail to understand why our own student governments here in Minnesota think the DREAM Act is such a good idea. This arrived via email this morning through our union:

MSUSA Action Alert! We need your help! Contact your U.S Senators today!

Senate Sets Test Vote on Immigrant Education Bill:

The Senate is going to debate and possible vote on the DREAM Act tomorrow as a test to see if the chamber is ready to support a piecemeal approach to legalization of some of the 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States.

The bill, sponsored by Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., would allow the children of illegal immigrants who entered the United States before age 16 and lived here at least five years to gain conditional legal status and eventual citizenship if they attend college or join the military for at least two years.

Call Sen. Norm Coleman and Sen. Amy Klobuchar and tell them to support Sen. Durbin's Dream Act Legislation.

What to Say:

Hi! My name is ____________ and I am a student at (your campus). I am calling to urge Senators to vote yes on the Durbin DREAM Act legislation to provide a 6-year path to legal residence for high school graduates who were brought to the U.S. years ago as undocumented children. I support the DREAM Act because it will increase access to higher education for 360,000 qualified high school graduates who are currently denied their dream to an education. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your support.

Now I get why my union likes the idea -- increase demand for my product and it should help push up my wages. And given the decline in high school graduating classes, we need every warm body. That doesn't mean I support DREAM -- I don't; I'm unwilling to do anything until we stop the hemorrhaging of our borders first, lest DREAM becomes a kids magnet that adds further incentives to illegal immigration. But why would students want more crowded classrooms? And why would they support "a piecemeal approach to legalization of some of the 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States"??

Student governments get to engage in cheap talk - they can take political positions comforted both by the fact that their student bodies pay little attention to their statements and the training they get from their professors who push this. A vote against supporting DREAM in a student government meeting will lead to accusations of behaving in a racist fashion; the cost of voting 'yes' is small since you're unlikely to change the outcome, so nobody squawks about this.

Labels: economics, higher education, immigration