STAFF ED: Dream Act helps immigrants get an education, worth keeping

Nebraska's Dream Act has been a source of controversy since it passed in 2006.

The main sticking point: It allows students to pay in-state tuition to the University of Nebraska if they have lived in Nebraska for three years before getting a high school diploma, graduate from a Nebraska high school or live with a parent or guardian while attending high school.

Nowhere does the bill prohibit illegal immigrants from paying in-state tuition if they fulfill one of these requirements.

Now, a bill is making its way through the Nebraska Legislature that would forbid undocumented residents from getting in-state tuition under the Dream Act.

This bill is more about the principle of the thing than about logic.

Sure, illegal immigration is technically against the law, and many people are adamantly against it as a whole.

However, look at the facts: Only 43 undocumented students currently take advantage of the Dream Act.

Plus, in the long term, subsidizing those few students could be a benefit to Nebraska.

Think about it: A college-educated Nebraska resident will be much more beneficial to their community and to the state than a high school graduate.

Not to mention the human aspect of this – a component you can always count on conservatives to neglect.

Some of these students have lived in Nebraska their whole lives.

They are as Nebraskan as anyone who moved to this state when they were young.

Yes, they are technically illegal.

But rather than waste time pushing a bill that will only hurt the few illegal students who currently use the Dream Act, why not concentrate on working on the bigger, underlying issues with illegal immigration and the process to become a citizen?

Is our goal as a state to protect quality of life for our citizens or to find new ways to step on the little guy?

This bill would prevent those 43 students and many more future students from getting an education, working hard and becoming productive members of society.

The Dream Act really does live up to its name. Let's keep it that way.

opinion@dailynebraskan.com