one more to the editorial

Hey Jóvenes,

I hope that your Monday has kicked off with blessings.
Lets see if the daily cougar posts something this week. They did however post Jose's name under a letter to the editor, they messed up- it was not Jose's letter.

I am sharing mine with you today. Thanks Tacho and Lilian:) I just sent it and i don't know if it'll get published or not, but it is getting posted in our blog.

-JRC

To the editor,

I doubt that most of our student body and staff at the University of Houston are aware of the number of students that attend college under House Bill 1403. It is even more surprising to know of those students that attend our university not knowing themselves that they are House Bill 1403 students.

This past Thursday, November 17th our university newspaper published an ad that was petitioning against House Bill 1403.

What is House Bill 1403? House Bill 1403 is a residency bill that allows us, undocumented students, to pay in-state tuition. In order to qualify for this bill one must have graduated from a Texas High School, lived in the state of Texas for three years or more, and provide the university with an affidavit of intent to become a permanent resident.

The ad published by our newspaper was one with hateful and racist essence.

My question to the staff is: Do they know who Preston Wiginton is? Are you aware of his racist rampages? If one goes to his petition website http://www.petitionagainsthb1403.com/ one can also arrive to places of hate-mongers that target African America elected officials and Latinos. Mr. Wiginton turned off his blog which had images against African Aid for example as soon as we exposed his identity to the public.

In a way, I thank Mr. Wiginton, as he calls himself, for exposing the usual clichés in his ad- such as these illegal immigrants are taking jobs away from Americans, they do not pay taxes, they receive scholarships, and financial aid. My answer to his arguments Mr. Wiginton and UH: Is that we are not taking jobs from Americans because we simply cannot work in our own fields once we graduate and we do pay taxes, in fact The New York Times published earlier this year "... illegal immigrant workers in the United States are now providing the system with a subsidy of as much as $7 billion a year....Moreover, the money paid by illegal immigrants and their employers is factored into all the Social Security Administration's projections." We are not just contributing to the Social Security Administration but we also pay into Medicare taxes, $1.5 billion a year. Plus living in this capitalist society, many of the major corporations make billions of our spending power. Total consumer spending by the Hispanic population reached $531 billion in 2002. Thus, if Mr. Wiginton wants to question the financial aid that House Bill 1403 student receive, then let me make it clear that the funds available to us are not federal aid; on a first come first serve basis some of us may receive funds from a Texas Grant. This is not a privilege, it is our right!

Let’s step away from the usual cliché: these students were brought here by their parents, we cannot blame them for their parent’s decision. I thank my parents for bringing me to this country. We came here for the reasons that everybody else comes, to have a better life, a better education. It is time to take responsibility for our actions and stop playing the blaming game.

Did the staff in the daily cougar bother to find out who he was and what his background was? Is our newspaper, a tax-funded newspaper in that much need of monetary aid that they are willing to post hateful ads? I understand and am for free speech, but what about standards? Isn’t this supposed to be a newspaper training future journalists? Does UH really want all HB1403 students to attend another university? Or have these students do without an education?

The issue exposed here is an education issue. The fact of the matter is that we, undocumented students are attending universities all over the nation. In our university there are roughly 300 House Bill 1403 students. Hint to our friend Preston, it is not 146 students at UH, it is more than that you see. We are graduating from college and cannot obtain jobs in our careers because we are said to be “illegal”. Every year, it is estimated that 65,000 students graduate from high schools that are also undocumented. Currently, our organization at UH-Jóvenes Inmigrantes Por Un Futuro Mejor-Young Immigrants For A Better Future is advocating for the DREAM Act- a piece of legislation that would legalize our status and allow us the space to continue our careers. We are working with many grassroots organizations across the state and the country to educate everyone on this issue; I begin here today, in my university newspaper.

Julita Rincón