I am having a problem understanding something. Why do people
that are breaking the law think that they should be given
additional privileges?
I am having a problem understanding something. Why do people that are breaking the law think that they should be given additional privileges? I am talking about breaking immigration laws and the recent controversy over whether illegal immigrants should be given California driver’s licenses.
Last Thursday, I started seeing fliers around Gilroy High School about a boycott and then started hearing people talk about it. The fliers were asking all Latino students to stay home from school on Friday, Dec. 12 to protest the repeal made by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The repeal took away the right for any illegal immigrant to get a driver’s license in California. I agree with Schwarzenegger 100 percent on his decision.
Why should we give people who are here illegally the privilege of having a driving license? They have already broken the law by being here illegally. Many times, illegal immigrants cannot prove who they are or even when they were born. Now the government should give them official identification as well? It makes no sense to me.
I have no problem with anyone coming to our country. I think that we are a great country that does great things and I believe in everything that we stand for, so I welcome people who want to have the great freedoms that I have. So, if you are going to come to this great country, just do it legally.
I thought Friday at school was going to be like a ghost town. Surprisingly enough, I didn’t even notice a difference in the student population. I think the reason is that I don’t have too many friends that participated in the boycott so everyone that I am used to seeing was there on Friday. Nevertheless, there were about 200 to 250 students absent according to Mr. Corzo, the assistant principal.
I heard rumors that anyone who did not have an excused absence on Friday would get Saturday school. That was not the case at all. Mr. Corzo said that all unexcused absences from Friday would be handled the same as any other day. The absence would affect the student’s citizenship grade for the quarter and if too many were accumulated the student would get a truancy letter sent home. He also added, “I wished they would have been at school to learn for their futures.”
Adding to Mr. Corzo’s comment, I believe that if the students who participated in the boycott would have stayed in school they would be getting the education they need. By staying in school they can learn the things they need to know to get good jobs and maybe even a job where they can change laws they think need to be changed.
I don’t think that missing school will help the protesters get their point across, either. I think what they were doing may have sounded like a good idea but then when you really think about it, it does not make any sense.
The state pays the school for every student who is in school. If the student is not at school the school does not get paid for it, thus the state gets to keep the money. So really by staying home from school they were helping the very people they were trying to hurt by staying home.
An argument I have heard many times is that illegal immigrants are going to drive anyway, so why not just give them licenses. This is one of the oldest excuses in the book. Just because some people are going to do illegal things anyway does not make it right. Many crimes are committed every year. Should we just let those people get away with things, because we know they are going to happen anyway?
Everyone has the right to protest. I would never want to lose that right.
However, I think that taking kids out of school to protest against something they cannot even vote for or against is rather silly. If someone does not agree with a certain law or thinks there should be a certain law, they would accomplish more by writing to their representatives and going through the proper channels.
