Illegal immigrants should be granted all educational and health benefits that citizens receive regardless of their legal status. In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plyler v. Doe that undocumented children have the same right to attend public primary and secondary schools as U.S. citizens. About 1.6 million undocumented immigrants are children and allowing them education is allowing them a future in life. Not doing so, however, restricts the success which they may have otherwise received as a result of education. Also, preventing immigrants from gaining basic health benefits is actually a technique that will only increase health care spending and add to a sicker U.S. population. Lawmakers have authorized a special Medicaid fund that mostly goes towards providing emergency treatments for undocumented immigrants. The program costs about $2 billion per year, and most of that money is used on delivering babies for pregnant, undocumented women. However, since the $2 billion provided for undocumented immigrants is only set aside for pregnancies, there is still a large gap in the services provided for these people. The lack of access to care services is a problem given that low-income undocumented immigrants tend to have specialized and chronic health care needs such as diabetes and obesity. Everyone deserves a chance at life, even illegal immigrants reasoning that they should be given a chance of education and a chance to attain health care.
Works Cited
"Should Children of Illegal Immigrants Have the Right to an Education in the US?" People. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.
"Why Undocumented Immigrants Should Have Access To Taxpayer-Funded Health Care." ThinkProgress. Web. 15 Oct. 2013
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