<p>It is estimated that 63,000--65,000 undocumented high school students PER YEAR, graduate in the United States. This is NOT a small issue.</p>
<p>Their right to public education up to age 18, has been affirmed by the US Supreme Court. Unless laws change that decision, they will have a continued right to that education. However, they are not eligible for federal financial aid, not being citizens, therefore they are in effect REQUIRED to get an education until age 18, and then FORBIDDEN to continue their education (except in some states). </p>
<p>Many youth did not have any choice about coming to this country. It was a decision their parents made--see the stories on this post, toddlers being carried thru the desert, families who flew in and entered with legal visitors' visas and then stayed, various means. Not every immigrant "jumped the fence." And youth generally do not have a choice about where their families locate (though they certainly have to live with the consequences).</p>
<p>The wage differential between the USA and many Caribbean and Latin American companies is something like this: as if Canada was offering jobs that paid $70 an hour! You can BET we would be flocking to Canada to pursue that kind of wage, or sending our youth there, for that kind of opportunity (that figure is from Time magazine, sometime in the last 2 years). It's a no-brainer!</p>
<p>There have been moves to close the public school system to undocumented students in various cities--LA, Chicago I think, for instance. The POLICE DEPARTMENTS of those cities strongly OPPOSED those moves, as it would have been a huge population management and enforcement issue for them to deal with a large youth population not in school and not employed. Google the issue on the Internet and you can find more information about this (that is how I know--never would have occurred to me to think of that factor). (And this is not meant to be a racist comment--I would posit that if the teens of any of the poshest suburbs of our nation were not in school or not employed, there would also be management and enforcement issues).</p>
<p>"Going back and entering the USA properly" is not a particularly simple issue. First of all there is the cost of a plane ticket, to be paid for with low under-the-table wages, and it is no longer cheap to fly, anywhere. (Clearly there are those who do not enter by plane, but in those cases as well, returning is not cheap). </p>
<p>More important, there are yearly visa and immigration quotas imposed on a number of other countries--so if you are from a country that is under quota limitations, it might be 8--10 YEARS before you received a visa to return to the USA. What does that look like for a 7 year old, or a 17 year old--or anyone, eager to move forward in their life? Check out the list of countries that have quota restriction on the Internet--it's an interesting picture of who our government has deemed more or less "desirable." Or maybe it was just random?</p>
<p>There are various ways that the above-mentioned high school graduates can become legal residents and eventually citizens, if they so choose (and then employable like the rest of us). They can be sponsored by family members, as described above, if family members themselves are legal residents, citizens, and adults. There are waiting periods in every case--legal residency, wait 2-3 years, sponsor next person, who waits 2-3 years, becomes a legal resident, sponsors next person, and so forth. Minor children can be sponsored with their parents, but if children turn 18 during the process, they must be sponsored as an adult and the 2-3 year waiting period is in effect. They can get married--heck, people got married in the 60's to avoid the Vietnam draft, it has been done before. They can be sponsored by anyone(legal) who is willing to vouch for their economic care until they themselves become legal residents and can work legally. Any volunteers? Who wouldn't want to give a leg up to someone who showed initiative, ambition, and persistence?</p>
<p>My opinion (not a factor, but a perspective to consider) is that many immigrants have shown a high degree if initiative, persistence, and desire--and this is JUST the sort of citizens that our country needs. Active, pro-active citizens contribute much to our country. And part of who we are as a nation, I believe, is due to the pro-active immigrants who for centuries who had the courage to let go of all that was familiar, to grasp a dream of something better--pilgrims in 1620 to doctoral students in 2008.</p>