Student Questions:
–USF President Cesar Hernandez: I am the first generation born in U.S. from parents who benefited from immigration laws of the Regan administration. What are your true views of Dream Act and, if your going to secure the borders, how?
Charlie Crist, Independent: My grandfather was 14 when he first came to America. The Dream Act requires that you stay out of trouble with the law, go to college, join the army and earn your path to citizenship. I believe in the Dream Act, it’s right thing to do. Rubio is opposed, but I agree with Meek. To secure border, we should add additional law enforcement.
Kendrick Meek, Democrat: I support the Dream Act and wrote letters to move for it. It’s important to look at the realities of comprehensive immigration reform. We need people to pay penalties for being here illegally. Securing borders is very important. We need to focus on immigrants who overstay their visas. The Arizona law is exciting to so many people because it enforces the law against people who hire undocumented workers.
Rubio: We have a broken legal immigration system in America, but we also need to remind oursleves that the reason why people come to America is because they are looking for opportunity. Opportunity will dissipate if too many illegal immigrants take jobs. We need to create a national consenusus among the immigration system. The worse things coming across the border are not immigrants, but drugs and warfare. We need to have an electronic verification system so employers can verify that workers are legal. For children brought to country by illegal parents that have done well in school and want to continue at university or serve in military — we need to accommodate them because they build our country. The Dream Act could apply to 2 million people across country.
–Kelli Polson, former managing editor of USF Oracle: What are your plans to direct funding to Florida univeristies once the stimulus package is gone?
Rubio: Student’s need to have access to strong loan and grant programs. The real dividing line in America’s employment field is post-secondary education.
Meek: As tuition rates continue to increase, we need to create a fixed rate. Students are stepping into a middle class worked force,thus we need to stop thinking on an individual level and think about our community. The stimulus was created to stop the suffering of students, but currently, tuition rates are going to continue to increase.
Crist: We need to everything we can to create opportunities for young people. Florida currently has the highest graduation rate in the history of state.
–Frank Hernandez, student government Director of Student Affairs: During this political season, weve seen a lot of negative adds. What have you done to bypass partisan politics and what are you going to do to get back on track?
Meek: It’s important to understand the art of compromise.
