So apparently somebody pretending to run for president slammed the DREAM Act today while visiting Ellis Island. For those not in the know, the DREAM Act allows children of undocumented immigrants to conditionally receive permanent residency for going to college or serving in the U.S. military. This would reduce the deficit by about $1.4 billion over ten years.
Leave aside the fact that it’s pretty immoral to punish children for the sins of their parents. Leave aside the fact that sending some kid back to countries they may not have been to since infancy is traumatizing. What I don’t get is this: in what world does it make sense to kick this human capital, which represents an investment of tens of thousands of dollars in education funding from taxpayers, out of this country before there is a return on the investment? How is that fiscally sane?