Robotics and immigration policy considerations

Teaching Methods

"Stinky": Robotics and Immigration

In 2004, four high school kids from Carl Hayden High School astonished teachers and engineers when they won a national robotics contest, beating teams from the best universities in the nation. Directing "Stinky," an underwater robot constructed from plastic irrigation tubes, the Phoenix team beat out the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's highly technological robot in an obstacle course at the bottom of a swimming pool. Their triumph had a bitter twist though. All four were Mexican immigrants from poor Phoenix areas, and it appeared that none would be able to use their achievement as a step toward getting a university degree (Melendez, 2005).

A lot of immigrant kids are brought to this nation as little kids by their parents. For them, graduating from high school is like running into a brick wall. Even though attending college is not against the law for these students the financial barrier that they face is often insurmountable. Undocumented students are not eligible for state, federal or institutional aid, such as grants, loans, scholarships and work-study programs; despite of how long they've lived in the country. Funds are an enormous barrier for these students (Melendez, 2005).

The Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., approximates that about 65,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools every year. The number of them that register at a U.S. college or university is not known. A bill in Congress known as the Dream Act would permit undocumented students who graduate from U.S. high schools to become permanent legal people. Supporters think giving students and their family's in-state tuition would help. But political onlookers say the bill will likely die for the reason of the present wave of anti-immigrant attitude (Undocumented Students Face Barriers to Higher Education, 2009).

New research put out by the College Board demonstrates that because of monetary barricades and prohibition from the lawful labor force, only a portion of undocumented high school graduates go on to college. The board supports approval of a Congressional act that would offer more people the means to go to college, without hurting U.S. citizens. Given the occasion to get supplementary education and obtain better paying employment, undocumented students would contribute more taxes and have more money to invest in the country (Undocumented Students Face Barriers to Higher Education, 2009).

The studies challenge that immigration and educational policies should not be universal. Kids make up almost two million, or fifteen percent of the undocumented immigrants in the nation. They have had no voice in their parents' choice to come to and stay in the U.S. illegally but are nonetheless paying the penalty. They may work hard in grade school and high school, only to find the door to higher education blocked to them. The report also says that K-12 education mandated by the Supreme Court in 1982 is for not if the U.S. persists in making it hard for undocumented students to go to college (Undocumented Students Face Barriers to Higher Education, 2009).