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Cleaning
August 24, 2011
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" S s '/ / , '/ / /
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A small distance/travel charge
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CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or
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Pre-Spray Traffic Areas
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I Cleaning Area (only)
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Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
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Area/Oriental Rugs:
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Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool):
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College as a Great Equalizer for Immigrants
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W hen a group o f un-
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bk
grants are trying to get sim i­
lar sta te -le v e l m e asu re s
passed instead. M aryland,
C onnecticut, Illinois, and
C alifornia have passed laws
m eant to en co u rag e u n ­
docum ented young people
j f l l d o c u m e n te d im m ig ra n t
took the stage at an im m i-
y o u th to c o n tin u e th e ir
g ration reform rally o u tsid e the education. M eanw hile, R epublican-
W hite H ouse last m onth, they had controlled legislatures in A labam a,
a catchy chant: "H ey, O bam a, don't W is c o n s in , a n d I n d ia n a h a v e
deport my m a m a !"
passed law s that m ake it h ard er for
High school students d om inated undocum ented im m igrants to get a
the crow d, w hich included protest- college diplom a.
ers w earing shirts em blazoned w ith
the w ords "I am the M ary lan d
D R EA M Act.
T hese slogans epitom ize the de-
sires o f L atino and o th er im m igrant
youth across the country. W e w ant
a pathw ay to college and legal sta-
tus. W e don't w ant o ur relatives
d ep o rted .
Late last year, Senate R epubli-
can s b lo c k ed the D ev elo p m en t,
R elief, and E ducation Qf A lien M i-
nors (D R E A M ) Act. If enacted, it
w ould have enabled undocum ented
youth brought to the U nited States
as children to becom e legal perm a-
nent residents, as long as they had
a clean record, possessed either a
high school diplom a o r a G ED , and
com pleted eith er tw o years o f col-
lege o r m ilitary service.
T his year, w ith p ro sp ects fo r
The Justice D epartm ent, civil
rights groups, religious leaders, and
even o th er countries are suing A la-
bam a over its law, w hich could even
stop undocum ented children from
a tte n d in g p u b lic s c h o o ls . T h e
O bam a adm inistration says that's
u n co n stitu tio n al.
T he M ary lan d D R E A M A ct,
w hich G ov. M artin O 'M alley signed
in M ay, w ill enable undocum ented
students to pay in-state tuition at
com m unity colleges and then enroll
in state universities. It m andates
that stu d en ts atte n d c o m m u n ity
college first.
A s part o f their efforts, organiza-
tions like C A SA de M aryland —
w hich org an ized the rally outside
the W hite H ouse — have led cam -
p a ig n s to e n su re th a t u n d o c u -
m ented im m igrants obtain individual
passage even d im m er, young im m i-
taxpayer identification num bers.
T h ese id en tificatio n num bers, crackdow n has em p o w ered prison
which don't require a Social Security profiteers and drug cartels. C o rp o ­
number, make it easier for immigrants rations running private prisons get
to pay taxes and establish a good up to $ 7 2,000 p er y ear for each d e ­
record while they wait for an oppor­ tained im m igrant they w arehouse.
tunity to apply for legal status.
M eanw hile, the hum an -sm uggling
U ndocum ented im m igrants pay o rganizations that are often tied to
plenty o f M aryland state taxes. They drug cartels have g ained by raising
account for nearly 5 percent o f the the alread y -ex o rb itan t prices they
state's population and w ill co n trib ­ charge fo r "coyote" services.
ute $275 m illion in state and local
A college ed ucation can be a
taxes this year, according to the great eq u alizer that opens doors for
Im m igration Policy C enter.
im m igrants to succeed in the U nited
T he new law, w hich opponents States. Y oung co llege-bound im m i­
are trying to block w ith a ballot grants shouldn't have to delay their
referendum , sets specific eligibility studies until law m akers decide to
re q u ire m e n ts fo r u n d o c u m en ted stop p u nishing them .
students to be able to qualify fo r in­
W hile the national debate about
state tuition. T hey m ust com plete fixing the im m igration system is
three years o f high school in the stalled by W ashington's gridlock, a
state and prove that th eir parents
file tax returns. A fter com pleting
generation o f young people is g ro w ­
ing up w ithout legal status o r any
tw o years o f co m m u n ity college, a
student can trarisfer to a public
university and pay in-state tuition
there too.
M aryland and o th er states are
shaping their ow n policies tow ard
undocum ented im m igrants to fill a
gap left by federal inaction. M ean ­
while, the O bam a adm inistration has
already deported m ore than one
m illion undocum ented im m igrants,
the highest level since President
D w ight D. Eisenhow er's "O peration
W etback" in 1954.
T he governm ent's im m igration
prospects for affording a college
diploma.
W ithout any sign that c o m p re ­
hensive im m igration reform is im m i­
nent, the states that you ng im m i­
grants call hom e should invest in
th eir potential and grant them ac­
cess to a college education. Instead,
m illions face the prospect that the
O bam a ad m in istratio n w ill deport
them — and their m am as.
Matias Ramos is a formerly un­
documented student and a co­
founder o f the United We Dream
Network.