Investing in youth

Dear Editor:This is response to the letter to the editor titled "A Nightmare" (The Downey Patriot, 12-16-10) The Dream Act lets the children of immigrants become naturalized citizens if they go to college or serve in the military here. The people who oppose this know nothing about our hard-working immigrant families. As it has been said, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." Most of the young people who would benefit from this act came to the U.S. so young that they don't remember or feel part of any other country. We have all invested in these kids education, many from kindergarten through the 12th grade, until they graduate from high school. Do we want to throw away that investment and make them work at menial jobs for the rest of their lives instead of letting them use their brains and talents to contribute to our society? We are only hurting ourselves and our country by stifling the brightest minds of our young people just because their parents brought them here when they were too young to have a choice in the matter. This is total stupidity, and if Republicans stand united against this, it will come back to haunt them for a very long time. I really think that the closed-minded citizens of this country need to learn about language and travel and live abroad for a few years so they can wake up their minds. -- Anita Rivero, Downey

********** Published: December 23, 2010 - Volume 9 - Issue 36