California's Berkeley to give college scholarships to illegal immigrants

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

California's Berkeley to give college scholarships to illegal immigrants
By Mary Slosson | Reuters – 1 hr 30 mins ago.. .

SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - The University of California's Berkeley campus announced on Tuesday that a private foundation has given $1 million to fund scholarships for illegal immigrants.

The scholarships will go to nearly 200 students who are not eligible for federal grants, government-backed loans or work-study positions, the school said.

The Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, a private family foundation, provided the scholarship grant. It is the largest scholarship for undocumented immigrants ever given to a U.S. university, the foundation said.

"These motivated, hardworking and inspiring students are an asset to our state and our country," the fund's president, Ira Hirschfield, said in a statement. "Now that it's legal to do so in California, we encourage other foundations and private donors to consider providing funding to help undocumented students achieve their potential."


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/californias-berkeley-college-scholarships-illegal-immigrants-022706936.html

[NYC_SKP]

1. Good!

My only reservation would be to not make it available for graduates who don't plan to stay for at least four years past graduation and contribute to our economy.

Yes, I think benefiting from these funds, private though they may be, needs to be tied to some commitment to return the honor is some capacity.

They are, after all, occupying a seat that might be occupied by another student, documented or not, paying or scholarshipped, who would stay and benefit our society.

Fire away!

And, oh, please buy union made US made this Christmas!

[kurtzapril4]

4. Nothing like rewarding people

for breaking the law. If you've been convicted of a minor crime, you can't get a Pell grant, but if you're an illegal immigrant, your education gets funded! Nice!

I've got nothing against legal immigrants, BTW.

And yes...buy union and US made this Christmas.

[lunatica]

12. But you are a jerk

I work in UC Berkeley where students are actually considered an asset and not blamed for being here because their parents brought them here when they were very young.

Our students are among the finest in the world in case you didn't know, which I think you don't.

[CreekDog]

14. i'm sorry, are you accusing children of breaking the law?

Happy Holidays to you buddy, maybe you can have them arrested on 12/25 for having parents that took them across the border to avoid starving or death squads.

The blessings of America are for Americans only, screw everybody else, it's yours, you don't gotta share.

[okaawhatever]

2. And they couldn't go with a more accurate headline? Stirring up the masses again. Good 4 Haas fund.

[allrevvedup]

3. Fantastic.

I'd love to see Cal get its reputation back and this is a step in the right direction. Also a great cause.

[olddad56]

5. one million divided by 200 = 5000

$5000 won't last even half a semester, then what?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

8. Then they'll demand more.

[CreekDog]

15. are you saying something unkind about students who would like an education?

students good enough to get into Berkeley --the odds of getting in suggest serious doubt you could.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

19. You falsely claim to have some special insight

as to whether an anonymously expressed view indicates the odds of the author's ability to get into Berkeley.

You don't have such special insight. You are just falsely indicating that you do.

Your effort to rephrase what I said with a rhetorical question to pejoratively and falsely suggest something that I did not say shows your malice and your ignorance.

My words stand on their own. They mean what they say. They do not say what you falsely suggest.

[pampango]

6. Nice to see Democratic states leading the way like this. republican run states

like Arizona, Alabama and Georgia not only make illegal immigrant students eligible for scholarships, they prohibit them from attending college at all.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

7. Are there scholarships for the children of legal immigrants without green cards?

If so, I have no problem with this. However, the reality is that children of legal aliens who are authorized to work pursuant to visas such as the H, L, O, P, E, TN, etc. have no way of getting any help for college expenses or loans or grants or anything else, due to the visas being 'temporary.'

More than half the people on these visas end up becoming permanent residents at some point and they also contribute greatly - not just from taxation but from their skills, qualifications and abilities.

Once again, playing by the rules doesn't mean squat.

[AlphaCentauri]

9. I bet any person on that category makes more money

than many US citizens and illegals

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

18. Not necessarily

Not everyone who comes in L status or TN status earns a lot of money, because those visas don't have wage requirements. I have known people in L-1B status living 10 to a 1-bedroom apartment because they couldn't afford anything else. Their dependent children of college age don't have the financial means to attend. Yet, they are precluded from requesting financial aid and even private lenders won't help because of the visa types.

So the kids of these authorized workers have two choices: enroll in college as foreign students, thus paying twice the tuition or return to their home countries without their families and possibly without resources if they don't have family members who can house or support them.

[AlphaCentauri]

24. L-1B is a non immigrant visa, the employee is considered an asset of the company

not an immigrant who wants to establish its presence in the US.

[AlphaCentauri]

10. Nice to see a college rewarding the smart and talented n/t

[slackmaster]

11. Yay! Less money available to help needy students who are here legally.

[lunatica]

13. This is a private foundation donating money for a specific thing

In other words like many who donate to UC, there is a specific use for the funds. It has nothing to do with money used for other reasons and by law cannot be used for any other reason.

[slackmaster]

20. Money is the most fungible thing that exists

The private foundation that is giving money to UC for the purpose of giving scholarships to students who are in the country illegally has less money to give to UC for the purpose of giving scholarships to students who are legal residents.

[lunatica]

21. That's an ignorant statement

UC gets tons of donations. UC Berkeley get huge amounts and consistently throughout the years. Billions. A million or so is a drop in the bucket.

And the department that gets the lion's share? Billions? It's Athletics. Go Bears!

But you probably think that's OK.

[slackmaster]

22. I think people who are in the country illegally should have to at least apply for legal residence...

...before they are allowed to enroll in our public universities.

[lunatica]

23. Illegals accepted by UC Berkeley are an asset to this country

They don't plan to take their world class education to another country. They plan to be in the workforce in this one. Paying taxes, growing the economy, making a better future, etc.

And they think of themselves as Americans.

[CreekDog]

16. uninformed once again

almost a perfect record.

[hughee99]

17. I like it. You can argue all day about illegal immigrants attending college,

but given that they already do, it's good to see a private foundation step up to help them pay for school since so much "public" funding is unavailable to them.