In regard to the March 22 editorial “Legislating discrimination,” the editors were correct in stating that provisions in the bill passed by the House of Representatives do unfairly discriminate.

Law enforcement officials could, and most probably will use the provisions, if passed into law, to detain minorities who they suspect to be illegal aliens.

Such provisions are in direct conflict with the rights we as Americans hold dear. However, on the subject of education, the editors miss the point. Each year, thousands of illegal immigrants enter this country, and they do so just as their title infers: illegally. We are a nation of immigrants, and the vast majority of our ancestors came here in search of a better life (except for African-Americans, but that travesty is another story).

Today, the United States Immigration Service has in place a lottery system in which 55,000 people world-wide are randomly selected and allowed to immigrate to this country legally.

Why should illegals be allowed to circumvent the system, break the law, and receive benefits for doing so?

Is denying an education to children of illegal immigrants prejudicial? Can it be seen as discrimination? Not if it involves illegal aliens.

Will the son or daughter of the “blond-haired blue-eyed woman” who illegally immigrated from Sweden be allowed an education, while the children of, say an illegal immigrant from Mexico be denied an education?

No, both sets of children would be denied an education, an education that we as tax-payers are supporting, while their parents are not.

To some, it may seem cruel and perhaps inhumane to deny any child an education, but it cannot be called discriminatory because the education provision does not unfairly single out a particular group.

If the education provision does survive eventual changes in the Senate, and an almost certain veto by the President, then perhaps people, all people, will think twice about committing an illegal act to enter this country.

Douglas Voegele

Graduate Student

Civil Engineering