Who Is Punished for Illegal Immigration?

Chester Finn has a point about not punishing children for parents’ illegal entry (Commentary, Feb. 17). But what about punishing innocent American students for the unlawful activities of the parents of illegal immigrant children? For every illegal alien student admitted into the University of California system, an American citizen or legal resident will be rejected.

Furthermore, giving resident illegal immigrants preferential tuition rates over nonresident citizens is a hideous injustice. To me, it’s unconscionable to provide resident tuition of $4,984 to illegal immigrant students while forcing nonresident American citizen students to pay $19,740.

Michael Scott

Glendora

My husband and I took a failing 12-year-old illegal immigrant into our home and five years later he graduated with top honors from public school. Despite several scholarship offers, it was impossible for him to accept all but one because of the confusing rules regarding his status. While in college at Middlebury, he had to take a year out to fight for a residency card. Finally, he graduated and is trilingual and upwardly mobile, a fine candidate for citizenship.

There are thousands of young people like him in limbo because of our questionable policies in Central America. These children were brought over as infants and youths by parents or “coyotes” to escape the terrible wars in El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. Unlike Cuban refugees, these youngsters’ status was never normalized and remained “temporary.” Like our student, they grew up as virtual Americans, but always under the threat of deportation. It is time we accepted these de facto American children as first-class citizens of the U.S. Support the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.

Jean E. Rosenfeld

Pacific Palisades