We Know Something Is Unfair, But What Exactly Is It?
Our community college won a two million dollar grant to handle surging enrollments in our struggling economy. Yet our neighbors complained that it’s unfair because illegals get help while local families do not. Something is unfair, but we see the unfairness dimly through a veil.
Behind the veil are two unfair systems that compound our community struggles. The broken systems are immigration and student grants, although we are improving them.
For years U.S. officials wouldn’t enforce border restrictions, basically saying, "Come on up, we need your labor." It’s human nature for families in poverty to accept that invitation. Even we feel invited to speed if state troopers don’t set speed traps for speeders.
To be equally unfair, officials didn’t prosecute employers who were hiring the only people available.
So orchardists processed both legal and illegal social security numbers. Otherwise they had to wade through the paperwork of an under-funded guest worker program to hire too few workers to pick too few cherries, while neighbors harvested all of theirs. That would be the pits.
As consumers we cherished bags of low cost cherries, apples, peaches, and pears, but are left holding the bag for the migrant workers’ education, health, and law enforcement.
During the same time, federal leaders shrank Department of Education grant programs for low-income students, and replaced them with guaranteed bank loans for students. Students carried heavy debt or families paid more money.
Understand the cruel irony of those two systems. For years federal leaders lowered barriers to our working class labor pool, thereby raising the number of people to compete with them for jobs. Meanwhile Congress raised barriers to education for those working class families who want to get ahead. That’s unfair, and terrible policy.
These unfair systems have been getting repaired in the last few years. Border enforcement has slowed illegal immigration. Employers have been raided, and more recently, warned by audits and letters for employing illegal aliens. Funding has improved the guest worker program. And crackdowns have returned more illegal aliens with criminal records. Congress is considering reforms for immigration policies and solutions for illegal immigrants’ status.
Congress also increased grant money available to low-income students. The College Assistance Migrant Program that awarded Wenatchee Valley College two million dollars is a DOE program that serves migrant students in numerous Washington colleges.
WVC administrators are working with surging enrollments while the state economy slashes their funding. They are awarding more grant aid to US citizens. And they earned more funding to help migrant workers and their families, many of whom are legal and have a right to education.
We must morph our ignorance of broken systems into questions about which systems are unfair, become intolerant of unfair systems, and demand leadership that makes them fair. Meanwhile, we should work with neighbors that need our help, because we are all in this together.
Behind the veil are two unfair systems that compound our community struggles. The broken systems are immigration and student grants, although we are improving them.
For years U.S. officials wouldn’t enforce border restrictions, basically saying, "Come on up, we need your labor." It’s human nature for families in poverty to accept that invitation. Even we feel invited to speed if state troopers don’t set speed traps for speeders.
To be equally unfair, officials didn’t prosecute employers who were hiring the only people available.
So orchardists processed both legal and illegal social security numbers. Otherwise they had to wade through the paperwork of an under-funded guest worker program to hire too few workers to pick too few cherries, while neighbors harvested all of theirs. That would be the pits.
As consumers we cherished bags of low cost cherries, apples, peaches, and pears, but are left holding the bag for the migrant workers’ education, health, and law enforcement.
During the same time, federal leaders shrank Department of Education grant programs for low-income students, and replaced them with guaranteed bank loans for students. Students carried heavy debt or families paid more money.
Understand the cruel irony of those two systems. For years federal leaders lowered barriers to our working class labor pool, thereby raising the number of people to compete with them for jobs. Meanwhile Congress raised barriers to education for those working class families who want to get ahead. That’s unfair, and terrible policy.
These unfair systems have been getting repaired in the last few years. Border enforcement has slowed illegal immigration. Employers have been raided, and more recently, warned by audits and letters for employing illegal aliens. Funding has improved the guest worker program. And crackdowns have returned more illegal aliens with criminal records. Congress is considering reforms for immigration policies and solutions for illegal immigrants’ status.
Congress also increased grant money available to low-income students. The College Assistance Migrant Program that awarded Wenatchee Valley College two million dollars is a DOE program that serves migrant students in numerous Washington colleges.
WVC administrators are working with surging enrollments while the state economy slashes their funding. They are awarding more grant aid to US citizens. And they earned more funding to help migrant workers and their families, many of whom are legal and have a right to education.
We must morph our ignorance of broken systems into questions about which systems are unfair, become intolerant of unfair systems, and demand leadership that makes them fair. Meanwhile, we should work with neighbors that need our help, because we are all in this together.
Posted by JSR at 7/30/2009 4:08 AM 
Categories: Serving Others
Tags: illegals illegal aliens CAMP migrant workers migrant education
Categories: Serving Others
Tags: illegals illegal aliens CAMP migrant workers migrant education
Comments