Author: Staff

Extensive media coverage of unaccompanied Central American children pouring across Mexico’s border into the United States has, unsurprisingly, been followed by political attention to the problem. Politicians like Texas Gov. Rick Perry R have reduced the focus to a single strip of land in south Texas and threatened to deploy the National Guard at a cost of $12 million a month to taxpayers; communities from California to Massachusetts have responded with flag-waving protests to emotional pleas for assistance; Central American diplomats have traveled to Washington to ask for help. America is again witnessing a drama involving familiar players and...

As the costs of higher education continue to reach new heights, access to in-state tuition for public universities and colleges is often the determining factor in whether students will be able to continue their education beyond high school. Despite having grown up and been residents of states often longer than the typical residency requirements, undocumented immigrant youth, also known as DREAMers–named after the Senate’s DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act–have historically been excluded from this critical state benefit. But this is changing.The trend toward restricting admission to public colleges or denying in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants...

Immigration reform won’t happen this year, but ironically the border debacle may make immigration reform more likely in the near to mid-future. Even if the House wanted to, there is little time (a couple weeks now and a few in September) to get any major legislation done. Moreover, with the monkey off their back and the Democrats under fire for the border mess, Republicans will see less urgency to move forward. Still, the outlook for 2015 and beyond is not entirely bleak for those who favor immigration reform.Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., right, are key...