The DREAM Act: blending baby with bath water *UPDATED*

I heartily disapprove of half of the DREAM Act.  For those who are unfamiliar with it, the WSJ describes it as follows:

The bill would grant six years of legal residency to high-school graduates who have lived in the U.S. continuously for five years and arrived by the age of 15. They would become eligible for citizenship if they attend college or serve in the military for two years during the legal residency period.

While I don’t have any problem with granting citizenship to people who are willing to fight and, if necessary, die for our country, I cannot for the life of me see why we should grant citizenship to illegal aliens who have taken up space at American colleges and universities that could otherwise have gone to children who reside legally in the United States.  Can you explain to me why kids who are hogging American resources should be rewarded with citizenship?

By the way, please don’t tell me that it’s not fair that these kids should be penalized just because their parents came here illegally.  Life is tough.  We routinely penalize kids whose parents don’t raise them well.  If your Mom and Dad are dumb as posts, and cannot climb the socioeconomic ladder, we don’t offer you rewards because of that.  Parents make choices and kids suffer them.  That’s life.

If you would like to see the current iteration of the DREAM Act tabled, Michelle Malkin has info about what you can do.

UPDATEVDH doesn’t even like the military part of the DREAM Act.  He says, logically enough, that a right one sphere of human behavior shouldn’t be used as a pass for a wrong in another sphere of human behavior.  I agree with that for those who came illegally to this country as adults.  However, for those who were children — say, under 14 when they came here — I think it is a good way to allow the child to get away from the parents’ sins.