WashPost Editorial Board Complains Illegal DACAs Might Have to Pay Higher College Tuition, yet their Readers Disagree
The U.S. Department of Education has opened investigations into five universities for offering scholarships that exclude U.S. citizens and legal residents in favor of undocumented students, including recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
The Washington Post’s editorial board complained about this today, saying that ‘helping undocumented students’ to ‘afford’ higher education ‘isn’t discrimination.’
The Trump Administration is arguing in court that prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens is discriminatory against American students based on the protected class of ‘national origin.’
The Post utilizes several often-used left-wing memes related to immigrants, namely that these workers will ‘do the jobs Americans won’t do’ when it said: “The American Immigration Council reports that many of them go on to fill essential roles in health care, education and tech — sectors facing urgent workforce shortages.” The Post also uses the ‘diversity is our strength’ meme, when it says, “These immigrants make universities — and the country — richer, stronger and more intellectually vibrant.” The Post also uses the left-wing meme of ‘cost the U.S. government far less than they contribute, financially and otherwise,’ which has been repeatedly disproven.
The median federal student-loan balance held by U.S. citizen borrowers who attended government colleges is roughly $30,000 presently. The average cost of college tuition & fees at public 4-year institutions has risen 141.0% over the last 20 years.
Even in the comments attached to the Washington Post article, their own left-wing readers are not happy with their editorial stance. The Post’s own “AI-generated summary” of the comments characterizes that they “predominantly express strong opposition to universities providing scholarships to undocumented students” and summarize the comments as saying it’s unfair to prioritize non-citizen illegals over American citizens.
Even though the readership demographics of the Washington Post skew heavily left, with 59% identifying as liberal/progressive and only 11% as conservatives, their own readers were upset and angry with the paper’s position supporting illegal aliens over American kids:
State schools are typically heavily subsidized by state governments with tax dollars to provide lower-cost options for residents. The policy goal is to provide high-quality education to citizens who cannot afford it, but left-wing activists in college administrations and in the federal government, have been steering resources to illegal immigrants and their children instead.
The media typically refers to these children of illegals as “Dreamers,” a nickname that comes from the proposed DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors), a never-passed bill that aimed to give certain undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children a path to legal status.
The universities under investigation are:
- University of Michigan
- University of Louisville
- University of Nebraska Omaha
- University of Miami
- Western Michigan University
The investigations follow complaints from the Legal Insurrection Foundation, which argues that such scholarships violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating on the basis of national origin.
At the University of Michigan, the “Dreamer Scholarship” awarded $100,000 in 2023–2024 to undocumented students. The school distributed $855 million in total financial aid during the same year.
Undocumented students are ineligible for federal financial aid and typically rely on state support, institutional aid, and private scholarships. Several states, including Texas and Florida, have recently repealed laws granting in-state tuition to undocumented students.
There are an estimated 528,000 DACA recipients under age 18 at present according to federal data. Estimates of the total number of illegal immigrants in America range from 17 million to 29.5 million, with 7 million entering the country since Joe Biden’s Presidency started.
The Washington Post’s editorial board criticized the investigations, describing them as “absurd” and “cruel,” and argued that undocumented students contribute to the economy and fill roles in sectors facing worker shortages.
By taking heavily subsidized in-state tuition spots, accessing need-based and “Dream” grants, and enrolling without generating the federal reimbursements on which colleges depend, illegals simultaneously crowd out citizen students, shift fixed overhead onto the remaining reimbursable pool, and trigger new capital projects that are financed through higher tuition and fees, so every American on campus ends up paying a hidden surcharge that often runs into thousands of dollars annually.
Part of the media’s messaging on illegal immigration is to constantly claim, without evidence, that illegals are always cost-neutral or ‘pay their share of taxes.’ Yet studies show that illegal aliens are major ‘fiscal drains’ on the country’s public revenues. Estimates are that every illegal costs the country $10,400 per year, significantly depleting funds for K-12 education, hospitals, Medicaid, among other public assistance programs.
The Education Department has not announced when the investigations will conclude.
The Washington Post has an estimated daily circulation of 110,000, and 135,000 for its Sunday edition, and an estimated 2 million total subscribers both digital and online. It is owned by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, who operates an Amazon PAC that gives equally to both parties. Amazon employees have historically given 85% of their campaign donations to Democrats. The Post endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020, and Kamala Harris in 2024, through a signed piece and not through the editorial board.
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