Silver State Libertarian Leanings

According to this article in the LVRJ, SB 415 passed committee today, with a five to one vote.

SB 415 would stop illegal immigrants from receiving Millennium Scholarships, college loans and in-state tuition.

I know, as a conservative, I should be celebrating this small victory, as most are right now. The truth is, I’m not sure how I feel about this bill. I like the idea of cutting off as many benifits as possible for illegals. I’m just not sure if this is the right benifit to start cutting.

The question becomes, do you hold children responsible for the mistake of their parents? Absolutely not. Do we take away government help for little Jonny because his dad is a loser methhead? Not at all. So why would we punish kids because their parents drug them accross the Arizona desert when they were 4 years old?

In case you are wondering, my opinion has shifted on this subject with the birth of my baby boy. What if someone where to hold him responsible for the stupid things I have done? There a long list of them, and he could be paying the price for a long time.

We have to take away the benifits of illegal immigration to reduce the flow of illegals, so the theory is sound. I don’t feel like this is the right benifit to take away. Especially because, as I understand it, Millenium Scholarships are for kids who have earned good grades in school. To me, these kids have done what we ask our immigrants to do. The have worked hard and integrated with our society, even if their parents are criminals.

If you want to stop them from going to school, stop it at the grade school, middle school, or high school level. Most parents bring their kids here illegally seeking a better life for them. It may be many years before they understand their kids won’t get college benifits. If they show up here and can’t put their kids in school at any age, they will realize quiet quickly they have not created a better life for their kids. That word will spread back to Latin America very quickly.

I really don’t think punishing kids for a crime their parents committed, quite possibly when the kids were to young to remember, is the way to fix our illegal immigrant problem.