Will Legalization Improve The Education Levels Of Illegal Immigrants?

By the accurate interpretation of the 14^th Amendment of the US constitution, children of illegal immigrants get citizenship rights, if born in USA. Additionally, due to their citizenship rights neither these children nor their parents can be deported legally. Even if their parents are illegal immigrants, the parents cannot be deported. Furthermore, as citizens of the United States these children have the rights to education, equal to those children whose parents are legal citizens. Education is the highest cost associated with illegal immigration. Unskilled workers do not earn much money and therefore, do not pay much in taxes. It is the responsibility of local and state governments to provide education to these children.

Citizens in the country are paying taxes annually to support the education system throughout USA. But would the cost of not supporting the education of these children be more damaging?    On one hand, government can prohibit educating children of illegal immigrants.  

The primary fear is that uneducating these children will result in a higher rate of juvenile delinquency and as they grow, a higher crime rate, in general. Also educating these children may prove to be useful in the future as there is already a relatively low amount of highly skilled workers.

Finally, higher-educated people typically earn more money and are therefore in a position to pay more in taxes. Educating these children, will possibly allow for them to earn higher wages and pay higher taxes, benefiting the economy, in the end. If the government will not support the education of these children, they stand to lose millions in future taxes and increase the rate of crimes.

On the other hand, if the government does support the education of these ‘anchor babies’ as they are often referred to, then  they gain future tax money with the possibility of a lower crime rate of the future. But at the cost of higher taxes today to provide the necessary educational resources. Taxes paid include state income tax, state sales tax, state, and local property taxes.

These education costs for ‘anchgor babies’ and illegal imigrant children, vary from state to state. California, Texas, Florida, and Arizona are holders of the highest illegal immigrant rates, and the education costs of these children are relatively higher in these states. Florida, for example, spends an estimated $1.5 millions to educate illegal iimmigrants children. Nationwide estimates of $10.5 billion annually are invested to support these children and support their education, an increasingly high amount, especially since these children may or may not be benefical to the US economy in the near future.

According to an estimate, the rise of illegal immigration will continue to be a burden on the US economy, as more and more of the illegal immigrants are having children who gain immediate citizenship and put a further strain on the economy from costs of their educational support. These children give birth to same, ‘anchor babies’ of ‘anchor babies’.