Illegal immigration has been a problem in the United States for a long time. There are many illegal immigrants and their children coming to the US. All children should be entitled to an education, illegal or not. Most children of illegal immigrants face many obstacles throughout their schooling. The children of illegal parents did not choose to move to the US or to be illegal; they had no choice. Living in the United States, they should have all rights given to other immigrants because they came with bad situations. The worst situation is a child of an undocumented immigrant because their choices are limited and they are unaware of their rights to attend colleges. Many people say that it is too expensive to give them an education, but if they do not get an education, the United States can see negative effects in the future. Every individual should be equal and deserves an education and healthcare. Illegal immigrant students who are unable to afford higher education and healthcare are at a higher risk in their future life and in fear of their unknown future in any field because of undocumented status.

Illegal immigrants’ children have a higher risk of not completing their education according to the Education Department because they lack the resident paperwork required for enrollment. Many people in the United states live without legal paper and their children suffer from education issues.  According to Roberto, there are about 65,000 students who graduate every year from high school, and because they lack the legal paperwork to stay in the country, they are not allowed to attend colleges, and some are instead placed on a deportation list. In our public schools, many undocumented children study and graduate from high school; however, they all are not allowed to enter college despite their good education standing. If they are allowed in high school, they should definitely be allowed in college and high-level education. This change can affect those students who really want to study and who might bright our communities. If children of illegal immigrants are not allowed an education, they may turn to gangs and crime because they do not have a good foundation (Ollove). If these kinds of kids grow up with violence and drugs around, it makes their and our communities more dangerous for everybody. This can affect our nation as a whole. Giving them the basic concept of studies and a place for them to learn can improve these children’s progress in a way that might not be possible without a public education. The education of undocumented children can help raise the standard of living for their families, so they need education for them and their families’ future. As a result of these, our country might get progress but it not being hurt for our communities. 

Illegal immigrants have had rights to attend college even if they lived without legal paper work documents. Wood, who is a Senior Communications Advisor of The Daily Signal, believes that undocumented children drain on U.S. schools because they have crossed the southern border to get into the country. Based on Wood’s conclusion, the US government needs to close the border. Some people cross the border illegally and some do crime, but there are also innocent children who would only like to learn in school or college. For these innocent children, government needs to allow them to enter into education. If the government does not allow them to enter in school or college, they might become terrorists. This would not be good news for our country. But in the past few years, the U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter to local and state schools around the country saying that students must be allowed to enter schools without proper documents. According to Preston, some public schools do make up a lot of rules that have to do with residency or they make the enrollment process too hard for immigrant families to understand. Marietta also says that denying educational opportunity will increase crime and poverty. And crime is not good for our society’s children who are future of our country. 

Illegal immigrants’ education is more costly than other citizens. Lance Izumi, who is a Koret senior fellow and senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute, says that having a large number of children of illegal immigrants highly effects education costs for public schools. Illegal immigrants’ children do not have legal paper work, so when they enter out of state college, cost is high. It should not matter where their parents stand, what really matters is a child’s motivation to get a good education. He tells us that although undocumented students do not qualify for federal aid, in some states they might qualify for state aid. Nowadays education tuition is very expensive for all students, especially for immigrants. Federal aid is very helpful for all students, but only residents qualify for it. Why do illegal immigrants who are allowed to enter college not also qualify for this aid? If they are permitted to enter college, then they definitely need to have to have aid. This change will affect positively on all undocumented students. Having the financial aid is very helpful for those who do not have a citizenship.

The children of illegal immigrants are at high risk for behavioral disorders. Julia Preston, who wrote “Risks Seen for Children of Illegal Immigrants” article, says that children whose parents are illegal immigrants, or who lack legal status themselves, face negative effects on their social development from early childhood until they become adults. Sometimes, those children suffer from mental problems because many in society see illegal immigrants as criminals. That leads to mental problems and they behave with fear and distrust. They not only worry about themselves, they worry about their parents being caught and what would happen to them. This causes a lot of fear and anxiety in their everyday lives. Additionally, children with behavioral disorders have greater difficulty in their future education and in attaining future employment; they are struggling a lot more than others. Also, they are less likely to participate in class communication and with their friends. The Harvard study reports that children of illegal immigrants are less likely to communicate with their teachers and tend to be less active in school activities. Because of their fears of uncertainty, they cannot concentration on their education. These types of peoples’ behavior become more aggressive than other children...

Undocumented status causes illegal immigrants’ children to suffer negatively. When they were children, they did not realize how tough their future education would be. If a government does not allow them to attend college after school, then the government should not enter those children in high school but rather safely return them to their home country. When they return their home country, they will go to college after high school. According to Preston, “In 2008, about 65,000 illegal immigrants graduated from American high schools, but only 5 percent went on to college.” This can be because most illegal immigrants do not have a lot of money and cannot apply for financial aid to help their kids. If people want a good job, they need college education after high school graduation. Some employers hire undocumented employees, but they pay less than minimum wage (Izumi). Illegal immigrants do work as other immigrants do, so they have to get minimum wage same as other civilized get. The government has to be punished employers who gave less money for illegal immigrants.  

Children of illegal immigrants deserve healthcare benefits. In the essay “More Immigrant Children in U.S. Illegally to Receive Health Care,” Michael Ollove argues that illegal immigrants’ children have full medical benefits whatever their immigration status is. Those children deserve full access to health care; therefore, they can be in a healthy and good position to succeed in life. If they are not healthy then people in our society might not be healthy. He asserts that illegal parents might be afraid to enroll their children in Medicaid out of fear that it could identify their families and might cause deportation to their home country. This is not beneficial for their children because they need money for education. If undocumented immigrants are denied social services, the quality of health, education, and safety of entire communities will suffer(Marietta). If the government provides basic services to those immigrants, people might prevent problems for their future life.

Even if illegal immigrant students have undocumented status they can afford higher education and healthcare. By gaining higher education and healthcare, they have less fear for their future life. To make matters worse, these children are unaware of their rights to a public college education. Children of illegal immigrants should be able to get an education. Education is a very important topic that impacts our nation as a whole. Some American citizens think education is needed for everyone while others do not. Children of illegal immigrants have the opportunity to get an education in order to learn the skills to make their lives and the country better. The main reason many immigrants come here is for work and to better their family’s lives. To better their family’s lives, their children need an education. If they do not have a good education, this does not help in getting a job in the future. Even if these children are illegal, these kids can create the next invention that can change the world. By giving these kids the tools, they can create a better America in the future. Many of them have different talents and intelligence that can be good things for our society. If people deny education to children of illegal immigrants, people are denying the American dream.  
