"and, if living in the country without documentation, have applied to become a citizen or plan to apply as soon as they are eligible."

How can they prove they "plan to apply as soon as they are eligible"?
Since they have lived undocumented in the US, wouldn't they need to live outside the US for ten years before they become eligible?

"Both drive home the fact that they were not brought here by choice"

They were brought here by choice - their parents' choice. The Dream Act will encourage more of this type of illegal immigration.

"It was an opportunity," Arreola said of his parent's decision to migrate north. "They wanted more for me..."

His parents wanted him to be raised by criminals and taught that laws are for other people?

Since some don't appear interested in allowing these kids to become productive -- I would ask the following:

As government at all levels cuts back, specifically what priorities of what agencies should be changed so that removing 12 million people in the country without proper documents can be accomplished in a timely and cost effective manner? Don't forget the legal costs of those accused wrongly (many people were born here but have never needed to produce those documents). After all, look how much expense and trouble was expended on The President's proof of citizenship!

Jerry Brown has lost me completely, and I've been a supporter of his for decades. He vetoed a bill that would have legalized industrial hemp and signed this travesty. All dealings with Mexico related to immigration should be on a quid-pro-quo basis. They have the toughest immigration laws in North America.

Industrial hemp legalization would create hundreds of thousands of jobs in agriculture, processing, and manufacturing. An additional benefit would be the degradation of THC-enhanced hybrid strains grown illegally in public wildlife areas via cross-pollination. Strains of THC-valued hybrids grown outdoors illegally would no longer be competitive in the market for psychoactive hemp.

Steve [Portion removed due to disrespectful comment or offensive language] When you were a small child DID YOU HAVE ANY CHOICE AS TO WHERE TO LIVE???? Answer me that.

During his campaign, Brown persuaded the voters that he could really get things done. Mandatory gay-agenda school curriculum, attacks on second ammendment rights, and now rewarding criminal behavior financially. What might he do next? He should have disclosed that he had gone insane.

Vfree, are you serious? Is that how you call them 'scum', I know your parents raised you better than that. Deport the real criminals not students seeking for an education. I have plenty of natural born citizen friends who would care less about an education. It's funny on how you don't want the people who actually want to work at a legit job be stopped yet not care about those who could careless about an education simply because they were born here.

Steve I asked a simple question. When you were a child did you decide were to live?

@Jason stop it with the ridiculous claims of racism. It's becoming boring. This has nothing to do with racism and everything to do with following the law.

Brown has just cranked up the power of the magnet that draws illegal immigrants to the US, and that is that they get free stuff that they could never dream of having in their own countries.

The claim of "it's for the children" is really starting to wear thin. If illegals knew that they wouldn't get free stuff, jobs, or status for their anchor babies by entering the US illegally, they simply wouldn't come here.

If believing this makes me fit some new definition of racist, then do be it.

We reward people who break the laws of this country.
Isn't there something wrong with this picture??

I have to agree with Steve on this one. The more freebies that we offer the illegal immigrants, the more incentive to come to our country. Mexico doesn't offer anything except jail time for showing up in their country illegally - I haven't heard of anyone in the U.S. running for their border to take advantage of everything they have. Now, granted, they don't have a lot to offer, but my point is that they have stiff penalties. It's keeping people from their southern borders from crossing for a better life for their families. We have to take a firm stand. Our country is becoming unrecognizable. I am all for LEGAL immigration. It's what makes our country great. But rewarding illegal immigration, in any form, is absolutely wrong. Do we reward our children for engaging in illegal behavior? Of course not - if we're smart and loving parents. If we are a smart and loving country, we will encourage the legal entrance of immigrants, and when they have achieved LEGAL status, they are rewarded with things like a chance to receive loans and grants for college. It's very simple, really. But the dolt that is heading our state can't figure it out. Not surprising, really, since he ruined Oakland during his tenure as Mayor, and made a mess of California his first time around. Yet the imbeciles of California have a very short memory and decided to let him have a go at it once again. *Sigh*
I don't care what everyone is saying about how money isn't being taken from residents. That is not the only concern. What about the overcrowding? So the ILLEGAL immigrants receive the grants and take a spot from a student that maybe wanted to go but couldn't round up the funds. Stop trying to make excuses for these families. Everything is ILLEGAL - plain and simple. The whole thing makes me crazy. It worries me constantly to see where this country is headed. And just as an end note - if we don't vote out our current loser, duck and cover. All of this will only get worse, and a lot of heads will be exploding.

@Jason -

My objection has nothing to do with the children. The problem is that this country has millions of illegal immigrants because parents wanted better for their child. Take away the motivation and the illegal immigration stops.

There's another problem with the AB 131. Once these people graduate, they will not be able to legally hold jobs. How is that helping them? It only encourages them and those who would hire them to break more laws. They are still illegal - and will remain illegal until they leave the US for ten years and apply to immigrate legally.

@Jason -

I was not born in the US and as a child, I had no choice as to where I lived. My parents had that choice - and decided not to break the law and sneak across the border into the US. When I grew up, I got the necessary education, I worked, I saved my money, and then I followed the laws and immigrated to the US. It took many years.

Now, Jason, you can answer my question - why should parents be able to sneak their children across the border? Or sneak across the border themselves to give birth to children in the US?

Illegal immigrants say that they have done nothing wrong. Thus, they thumb their noses at the U.S. immigrations laws. Many illegal immigrants feel that they have the right to drive without a license, the right to drive without insurance and the right to a job. It is only we who are citizens who have reduced rights.

I could live much better on Social Security in Mexico than here. But I'd have to pass a test that is only given in Spanish and renounce all political activity for the rest of my life.

These illegal aliens hopping over the border to give their children a better life is a crock! They came over to take jobs away from Americans who were paying income taxes. These illegals never paid income tax and I have never heard of any illegal alien saving money for their illegal childrens education.
When times were good, the illegal aliens were sending 20 to 40 billion dollars home to their Motherland. Now times are tough they are throwing themselves on liberals to get all the benefits they can.
Too bad we don't have immigration laws similar to Arizona and Alabama. I knew we were in trouble during the Brown - Whitman debate when Brown said "he wanted to bring the illegals out of the shadows."
We have a law against illegal immigration, if Brown can't or won't enforce the law, he should resign as governor!

An estimated half-million illegal immigrants live in the Bay Area, according to a study that is one of the first to try to measure the number of local residents living in the U.S. illegally.

Web Link

We have lost our minds. Who is the person that wrote this bill representing in the State Assembly? Certainly not the citizens of this country.

I just went through trying to get classes for two of my children for the past three quarters at Foothill and De Anza. Most of the classes they wanted were full due. We were told it is due to budget cuts and lack of funds. Now we have money to spend on ILLEGAL immigrants and room in classes for the extra students?

There are many things I would like in this world. Wanting them does make them a right. That includes an education if you come here illegally from another country.

How is that utopia working out California?

EGADS.... Illegal is friggen ILLEGAL....

OK, so they came as infants, young childre.... but damn...they have been here (most of them) for twenty or so years... plenty of time to "TRY" to become legal...
Send them friggen "home", get in line and try to get back in here.

I'm so damn sick of of paying my taxes for keeping the welfare families, the illegals welfare costs, etc...

Damn, where did America go ???

Thanks Obama, and your menions.. welcome to the soon to be here third world economy and country.

The loans will be used as free lines of credit. There will be no legal means of collecting the money if the people borrowing are illegal. And if the illegal is still illegal, than how would the illegal find legal employment to pay back the loan? There will be no incentive to pay back the loan, only to take one out.

@Jason -

So you don't have an response to why some immigrants must follow the laws, and others don't?

While the Federal Government refuses to enforce immigration laws, they have no problem at all violating the 10th Amendment to thwart the will of California voters and destroy jobs:

Web Link

Note down the names of these LOCAL OFFICIALS and kick them out of office. Idiots!!!

[Post removed due to disrespectful comment: personal attacks]

We've been watching and living the rise and fall of California and I still cannot believe that people elected the time proven loser to "run" the states business.

In regards to the racist comments. Let's explore the fact people that came here illegally are walking criminals. The young girls that exploit the anchor baby loop-hole are also stealing from all of us living legally and trying to make ends meet again. People that support things like the day worker center are turning their backs on the law. Meanwhile citizens are lined up at union halls waiting to get back to work.

It isn't just the mexicans. It's everyone here from all over the world that walk freely as criminals. Many people came here under temporary work visas that never left when the visa expired.

And lastly one would think if people do come here for a better life they would at least attempt to assimilate(sp?) into our culture by learning to communicate, etc. By paying taxes, and by doing it legally.

Steve -

My last post to you was removed for "disrespectful content - personal attacks" regarding Jason's post to you. Let me just say that I respect your choice to be here legally and hope that you aren't letting Jason's "disrespectful content and personal attacks" toward you get to you. I'll leave it at that since this forum does not allow freedom of speech. The moderator must know Jason personally. So much for following the law and freedom of speech wherever you may be. These are all things of the past now. I guess we have to get used to it. It's the new world order. How sad that our country has become so unrecognizable.

"Few of their children in the country learn English ... The signs in our streets have inscriptions in both languages ... Unless the stream of their importation could be turned they will soon so outnumber us that all the advantages we have will not be able to preserve our language, and even our government will become precarious."

Benjamin Franklin, on German immigration to Pennsylvania, 1750s

People have been saying the sky is falling because of immigration since before the founding of our Republic. In real life, immigration brought economic progress and enriched our culture for 250+ years. Relax and get on with your lives.

@Martin -

Immigration - good.
Illegal immigration - bad.

No immigration is "good" when a nation is suffering from double-digit unemployment. Close the gate to ALL immigration until unemployment dips below 5%.

It’s estimated that prisoners who are illegal immigrants cost the state at least $1 billion per year just to keep them in prison.


Web Link

Add to that Medical Education and all the other freebees

Martin must be an immigrant.

@Old Ben -

"No immigration is good"

The thing with immigration is that you can pick and choose the intelligent, educated, hard-working applicants. You can't do that with your own citizens.

That's a uniquely anti-American statement, Steve.

I do not understand why people have so much hate in their hearts we are all humans here to survive to provide for our children/family to make a better world who cares if they are here illegally they are not taking american jobs as most folks say most Mexicans i know are field workers or work in packing houses or clean houses they take the jobs most Americans DO NOT WANT and i also know some people who have citizenship don't even bother going to school they take things for granted but these kids want to go to school they want to become something in life i say let them be!

Lester:

With that for a sentence, I would say you are one of those who didn't bother to go to school.

Lester,

Are you paying taxes? I have my doubts since if you were, you would be as outraged as the majority of the population over the cost of educating, feeding, giving them health care, and paying for the anchor babies among other atrocities. If we "let them be", everyone in every country that doesn't have the freedoms we have, would be flowing into our borders at an even higher rate than we do now. That, my man, is not sustainable nor is it advisable for any country. We are TRILLIONS of dollars in debt as a nation and your "let it be" attitude will only help to make things so bad that we will become an unsustainable nation. Your mindset is not one that will get us anywhere. LEGAL immigration is the only way a country can have even a modicum of control over things inside its borders. Remove that to "let them be" and we will have a country just like any other. Our country is special - the aim is to try and keep it that way while we are run by ineffective dolts - both at the state level and the national level. Please, Lester, do your homework before you make half-cocked statements such as the one above. There is so much more to this issue, and so much more at stake.