Chain emails can be many things,complimentary, helpful, annoying and somewhere in between. I always try to read them when I can, because sometimes they spur a good conversation.
I received one in particular last week, entitled “Letter by a Florida Teacher.” You may have received it too.
The letter was very convincing, with statements giving the impression that illegal immigrants are obtaining federally-funded PELL grants to pay for post-secondary education and “making less funds available to legal citizens needing assistance.”
Like most people would be, I was outraged after reading this letter. Who wouldn’t be? It wouldn’t be fair for an illegal immigrant to obtain federal grants to pay for college at the expense of taxpayers.
After receiving several calls from community members who had also obtained the letter, I began looking into it and found out there is more to the story.
The primary reason for a PELL grant is to give students, who couldn’t otherwise afford college, the financial aid they need to get a higher education. However, there are grants within the PELL grant program that do offer assistance to legal immigrants who have entered the country by legal means or have legal permanent resident status. None of the grants are available to illegal immigrants.
After speaking with individuals from the federal PELL grant program, they told me they received hundreds of phone calls and emails from individuals concerned that their hard-earned money was being given to illegal immigrants. This is, again, not the case.
But it does bring me to why it was so vital that we addressed illegal immigration issues last session.
According to the Pew Hispanic Center, 110,000 unauthorized immigrants reside in Indiana as of 2010. For too many years has the federal government failed miserably at one of its most important duties, securing our borders. Now, states such as Indiana, are taking action.
We passed Senate Enrolled Act 590 last session, for example, to provide a common sense approach to ensure bad actors are identified and provide a safe harbor provision for businesses that use the E-verify system. I supported this legislation because it gives Indiana some authority to deal with this issue by prohibiting state and political subdivisions from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.
What started out as an Arizona-style immigration bill was transformed into a common sense approach because Indiana, among other states, is in need of streamlining illegal immigration policies. We need to ensure those that want to come into the United States can do so legally.
Even though this particular chain email didn’t end up being the most accurate, it brought an important issue to the discussion table. Please don’t ever hesitate to contact me with concerns such as these or any others. I am here to help in any way I can.
