Posted on 05/23/2008 3:13:07 AM PDT by Man50D
If you cross the US-Mexican border at the town of Calexico you might run into a photographer named Daniel Santillan. But he's not likely to be shooting pictures of tourists. He only has eyes for Mexican schoolchildren who want an American education.
Mr. Santillan is a residency enforcer, assigned by local education officials to make sure students live in the US, not Mexico. When he's not tracking students on weekday mornings at the border crossing, he visits local homes to make sure children live where their parents say they do.
Santillan isn't thrilled about busting youngsters for living south of the border, but he accepts his job. "The bottom line is that these kids are taking up room," he says.
It's impossible to know how many Mexican students cross the border daily to attend school in the US, sent by parents who think they'll get a better education. Still, border communities have fretted over their presence for more than a decade.
Some schools are now doing more to enforce residency requirements under pressure from politicians and activists concerned about wasted taxpayer money.
Calexico's schools, however, have gone further than others by sending Santillan to photograph students at the border and requiring parents to provide proof of residency twice a year.
The school district, which serves 9,000 students in a poor southwestern California border town, wasn't overly concerned about Mexican students until about three years ago.
After all, Calexico schools didn't lose any money by accepting the students, since the state of California reimburses the district for each student it accepts. Also, Mexican students didn't necessarily stand out, since 95 percent of Calexico residents are Latino. And close relationships with Calexico's sister city in Mexico – the sprawling metropolis Mexicali – made cross-border trips easy.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
Oh,the humility!
A country this stupid is on the way out.
Do they mean the taxpayers of California, which stretches into thew NW portion of the US, pays to educate Mexican children in their native tongue?
Mr.Santillian is now a marked man.
They use Border Crossing Cards [BCC}. Over 7 million have been issued to Mexicans living along the border so they can enter the US and shop.
“...under pressure from politicians and activists concerned about wasted taxpayer money.”
Where is the word “taxpayers” in the sentence above??????
I guess they don’t count!
What? Mexican school-aged children are able to cross the border DAILY to attend school in the USA? Our border security is THAT . . . nonexistent?
What this article is talking about is those that pass through a legal check point each day. Multiple people cross over each day that way. I’ve read articles where parents will walk them to the US check point and then turn around an go back to Mexico.
And I, a born in the USA citizen, need a passport to make the Mexico to USA crossing.
What are these kids using?
About time!
ping
I’m beginning to think, deservedly so.
Thousands of children cross the border daily to attend schools in the U.S. in border towns all along the border. Many are U.S. Citizens because mama made sure she came across to have her babies so they would qualify for all sorts of goodies here; including education. Some towns have allowed children who are not citizens to come across to school also. A town near me used to run school buses across the border and around the town in Mexico but people finally put a stop to the buses going across- now the children cross and catch the bus on the U.S. side. This has been going on for many years and the taxpayers are paying for it, not only with local property tax money- but tons of federal and state school funding goes toward educating the children of Mexico. The children are crossing legally at the Port of Entry, not sneaking in.
This isn’t a new story but only a minor update to the same story of about 2 years ago.
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