June 19, 2005

"For Illegal Immigrants, a Harsh Lesson" made me cry

Dear public *at* nytimes.com:

Your June 19, 2005 tale "For Illegal Immigrants, a Harsh Lesson" made me cry. As soon as I read the first paragraph, I could feel my sympathy begin welling:

Esteban Navarro's disappearance broke a lot of hearts at Trenton Central High School, where the dropout rate among Hispanic students is triple the state average...

I knew what was coming next, because I've seen so many very similar stories. In fact, there have been so many stories printed almost exactly like this one in tone, content, and structure that I've almost been programmed to give illegal alien advocates everything they want, and more. First they describe just how wonderful an affected child is and his or her plight. Then, like a bright, golden ray, comes hope:

...One solution is embodied in the In-State Tuition Act, first introduced in the New Jersey Legislature in 2003, which would allow illegal immigrants like Mr. Navarro to attend public colleges at in-state tuition rates...

Why, it's almost like a sales pitch in its wonderful use of the language! It's unfortunate that you printed hateful thoughts however:

..."If someone from Philadelphia wants to go to school in New Jersey, and an illegal is getting in-state tuition, that angers students a great deal," said Jean Oswald, executive director of New Jersey Commission on Higher Education...

..."One of the underlying issues from a policy perspective was the inequity this bill would create in a litigious state like New Jersey," Sharon Ainsworth, director of state relations at Rutgers, said in her testimony. "There is a whole category of students whose parents are here working on visas. We would be providing a benefit to an undocumented student and not to a documented one."

Boo! Grown-up talk about policy is such a downer! I want to hear wonderful heart-tugging stories about immigrants struggling against oppression! Thankfully, you didn't explain what she means by "litigious" (example: "Twenty-Four Americans Challenge Law, Claiming New Policy Discriminates Against American Citizens").

Thankfully, you didn't include the thoughts of some who worry that bills like this might encourage even more disrespect for our laws, that foreign countries are taking advantage of us, that this will take educations away from U.S. citizens as well as legal immigrants, and that this will just encourage more illegal immigration.

And, I'm very thankful that you didn't include the thoughts of those who wonder how so many very similar stories come to be in the first place. Are these stories in fact advertisements? Or, could they be part of an astroturf campaign and are papers aware they're being used to spread a particular ideology?

The last thing I want is for the NYT to look into the story behind the story and try to figure out who's behind all these wonderful tales. And, the next to last thing I want is for the NYT to wonder whether any state employees or others mentioned in the article are aiding and abetting illegal immigration, a federal offense.

I was also heartened by this bit:

A National Honor Society student, Dina was awarded a scholarship to a local two-year college, where she is studying to become a nurse. Since Dina is an illegal immigrant, she is using a false Social Security number...

Isn't that wonderful?

[If you're new here, turn your sarcasm meter up to 11 and read the post again.]

Posted to Immigration_piipps at June 19, 2005 03:29 PM

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