Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
HYATTSVILLE (WMAL) – Maryland’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate is calling for free community college for Dreamers – illegal immigrants brought to America as children.
Speaking along with immigrant advocates, including CASA and DACA recipients, at a press conference Wednesday, Ben Jealous said every Marylander, regardless of immigration status, deserves the opportunity to go to college. Paying for DACA-eligible immigrants to to go community college is part of his larger plan to make community college free for all Marylanders.
“A free college education for anyone who wants an opportunity to get an education should be available, and it should be available to anyone no matter their immigrant status because no one is illegal,” said Gabrielle Hernandez, a DACA recipient who attends Prince George’s Community College.
With Jealous by her side, Hernandez said without DACA she wouldn’t be able to afford college.
According to Jealous, it would cost $3 million of taxpayer money a year to send roughly 700 illegal immigrants to community college for free. He plans to get that money by increasing taxes on the wealthy.
Jealous responded to critics who don’t believe taxpayer money should be used to give handout to illegal immigrants: “I would ask them if every immigrant in their family tree had papers,” Jealous said.
Jealous added immigrants, including some of his ancestors, have made valuable contributions to the country and state of Maryland. According to him, Maryland’s GDP would increase by more than $1.6 billion if half of the state’s DACA-eligible residents completed an associates degree or two years of a bachelor’s degree.
His free college announcement comes days after an illegal immigrant from Mexico confessed to kidnapping and killing 20-year-old University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts. Jealous doesn’t think that news will turn people against illegal immigrants, including DACA-eligible ones.
“Most Marylanders understand that a killer needs to go to jail, and also young people need to go to college,” Jealous told WMAL.
Following the arrest of Cristhian Bahena Rivera on first degree murder charges, President Donald Trump said the murder should never have happened and is another example of why America needs tougher immigration laws.
Despite Mr. Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, Jealous believes using taxpayer money to send illegal immigrants to community college for free is an attainable goal.
Jealous will face off against incumbent Republican Gov. Larry Hogan in November.
Copyright 2018 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: WMAL/Heather Curtis)
