Meet Mayte Lara Ibarra, a young graduate of David Crockett High School in Austin, Texas. She’s a girl who will be starting her life like so many Americans across the country, ready to experience college, grad parties, the work force, and the list goes on and on. Little did she know that she would receive such backlash for tweeting this simple message:
“Valedictorian, 4.5 GPA, full tuition paid for at UT, 13 cords/medals, nice legs, oh and I’m undocumented.”
Of course, there were many people who congratulated her for these accomplishments because no matter what a person’s immigration status is, all those things are very impressive. It is no question that her hard work paid off after all these years, but once again, it brings up the immigration debate that our 2016 presidential race has been focusing on.
Now, I would like to point out that anyone who has read a U.S. history book knows that our country was formed by immigrants seeking a better life. Immigrants are the blood, sweat, and tears pounded into the soil that built the First Transcontinental Railroad and wrote the novels that hold a place in the libraries of our finest universities. If you live in America, you most likely are an immigrant or a descendent of one. So what’s the problem with the fact that Ibarra is undocumented? Well, here it is.
First of all, the University of Texas-Austin is a public university, indicating that taxpayers pay so that the university can receive funding and educate our youth. “Our youth” refers to the children of legal immigrants, U.S. citizens, and anyone else who respects our immigration laws. However, Ibarra and her family did not do so because they didn’t have to. There are state laws in Texas that allow for valedictorians of Texas public high schools to receive tuition waivers regardless of their immigration status. UT-Austin also offers a service called the Longhorn Dreamers Project for illegal immigrants so that they have as many opportunities as the students whose parents actually pay taxes to fund that university. Personally, I feel that this is wrong. Why should we reward people for breaking the law? Also, why do we have immigration laws in the first place if they are ineffective?
Don’t get me wrong though. I am not against immigration. I honestly couldn’t care less about who decides to come to our country, immerse themselves in our culture, and bring progress to our home-grown companies. The problem is illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. This is not a racist or a hateful matter, but it is something that is plaguing our communities. Our government worries more about the people outside our borders than inside our borders. If we really want progress that will create a stronger nation, we have to focus on the people who followed our immigration process and the people who pay the taxes. Again, this young lady’s work ethic is nothing to frown upon, but no scholarship she receives should be on the taxpayers’ dime.
