Vote NO on Question 4 : The Dream Act

As the editors are rolling out our endorsements on the pending Maryland referenda, I have the honor of announcing that the editors of Red Maryland unanimously encourage you to vote NO on Question 4 on this year’s ballot.  

Question 4, commonly known as the Dream Act, allows the children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates to attend certain Maryland colleges and universities.  For those of you who have read our extensive reporting on this issue since it was raised in the General Assembly in 2011, seeing us endorse a NO vote is probably a “duh” moment and I won’t restate the plethora of reasons why we opposed this measure and encourage you to do the same.  (If you missed it, please do go back and read what we wrote).

The essential and undeniable reality about the Dream Act is that is undermines the rule of law, demeans the concept of citizenship and offends notions of basic fairness.

The Dream Act was and is promoted by those who object to our current immigration laws.  These supporters, rather than concentrating their efforts on immigration reform at the national level, have determined to pass laws which aid and abet the millions of illegal aliens living in this country. Behind the guise of a politically correct nomenclature (think “undocumented workers”) and patently false claims that illegal aliens “pay taxes like everyone else” the proponents of the Dream Act hope to not only ameliorate the consequences for those brazenly violating our immigration laws, but seek to make Maryland a haven for those who have come and who stay illegally.  In fact, as our contributor Ann Miller points out, the Dream Act favors illegal aliens over legal immigrants and even military families living in the state.
And for those who think the Dream Act is not a big deal because it only affects a few institutions, consider the following.  The Dream Act was the initial impetus for the successful referendum process that has given us the greatest opportunity in decades to roll back the excesses of one party rule in this state.  In fact, as we have documented, Maryland democrats are so exorcised about this effort that they fought it tooth and nail both during the petition drive and later in the courts.  They made hypocritical arguments, they destroyed what credibility they had, and they desperately tried to keep you from even having a say on this issue.  A NO vote, whatever its ultimate effect on the issues surrounding illegal immigration, will be a shot over the bow of the political machine that runs this state.  
A NO vote on Question 4 not only promotes the rule of law and the dignity of citizenship, it is a vote to restore balance and democracy to a state whose leaders have long ago abandoned the will of the people with impunity.
For all these reasons, the editors of Red Maryland urge you to vote NO on Question 4.


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