Viewpoint

My comments over the last couple of days have reflected my own experiences working with high school students. With few exceptions the students who come to me are born in the US and citizens from birth but a large percentage of them are born to parents who would not gain entry to the country under the proposed new guidelines. Their parents tend to be poor and are non-English speaking. The languages these students speak at home are French, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, Farsi, Korean, German, Vietnamese, and Chinese.

Because I have been offering my services for so long, I even have perspective and data on what happens next. The students gain admission to colleges and universities such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Harvey Mudd, Princeton, Wesleyan, Berkeley, USC, and UCLA among others. They are challenged by their educations and rise to meet those challenges. They become scientists, doctors, investment advisors, economists, etc.

But none of them could achieve these goals if the proposal becomes the guidelines. We are not better off as a nation if we exclude these students. If we need to restrict entry then restrict the numbers not the candidates. If we stop being the country of dreams, we will be broken.