The Cost For Educating Non-English Speakers

A Review submitted to the Utah State Legislature shows that the cost for education non-English speaker in poverty is between $100-$500 more than native speakers.

Unfortunately, they were asked to specify what it costs to educate an undocumented immigrant. This audit raises more questions than it answers. The only criterion they have used to determine costs appears to be whether English is a second language, and the poverty level of the student. This doesn't answer costs of educating for me, because we should assume from this report that it costs the same to educate a documented immigrant child. That is, unless it can be proven that legal immigrants are less likely to live in poverty than illegal immigrants.

Is poverty the lot of all illegal immigrants? Certainly not always relative to their country of origin. Living here in the worst of circumstances is still remarkably better than third-world poverty. But, does living here as an illegal immigrant condemn one to live below our poverty line? Is a Social Security Number and a job, likely to move one above the poverty line? How many illegal immigrants with children are going to work here without a Social Security Number(belonging to whom?), really? Relative to one another, do illegal immigrants have a advantage over legal immigrants because of what it cost to come here legally?

The question that should be answered, but cannot with such a narrow study as this is 'what is the real cost of illegal immigration to the migrant child'?

Hat Tip: SL Tribune