Today’s political climate, on both a national scale and a local one, is nothing short of partisan, divided and in many cases harmful. In a society where every single day there is a new headline about a possible bill or law, it can be easy to completely miss when an important bill has been passed or introduced. 

One bill that should not fly under the radar is a recent North Carolina Senate bill that targets undocumented immigrants.  

On June 8, Technician reported that the North Carolina Senate passed a bill, SB 145, that would place strict laws on the freedom that undocumented immigrants currently have in this state.

The bill would not only change the forms of acceptable identification that undocumented immigrants need to stay in the state and country free from worry, but according to Technician, the bill would, “…ban schools in the UNC System from adopting any ‘sanctuary’ policy that would protect undocumented immigrants in the campus community and forces them to disclose immigration status of students or face losing funding.”

Essentially, the bill would leave undocumented students at NC State unprotected and at risk of their information being shared with federal agents. This bill would legally prevent NC State from adopting protections for undocumented students, and then take the further step of disclosing who these students are.

Senate Bill 145 would leave smart, capable, worthy students at risk, simply because of their immigration status, and is an egregious condemnation of NC State’s undocumented students and their families. This bill is harsh, unfair and a great risk to the peers that call our school home, and have as much of a right to an education at NC State as anyone else.

I don’t know exactly why the Republican senators who drafted this bill did so, but I presume it was due to the classic arguments that many have crafted in opposition to undocumented immigrants in our state and in our country. Whether it is that undocumented immigrants are taking jobs from everyone else, or need to enter the country the “right way” or, according to our own president, because they can present a danger to other people, a variety of unfair and disdainful assertions are attached to the identities of undocumented immigrants in our country.

The reality is starkly different. According to a report presented in The New York Times, and conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, undocumented immigrants do not hurt the job prospects of native-born Americans in the long term. And, according to The LA Times, law enforcement officials in both red and blue states agree that sanctuary cities actually increase public safety.

Beyond this, The LA Times also reports that two-thirds of undocumented immigrants have been living in the United States for more than 10 years, and have no economic resources in their countries of origins. Moreover, according to The Atlantic, undocumented immigrants contribute billions of dollars to the U.S. economy every single year in taxes.

The retirement, Medicare and social security funds that help fund the well-being of millions of Americans largely come from the taxes that undocumented immigrants pay annually. These are benefits that most undocumented immigrants will never receive themselves. Most immigrants, even legal immigrants, are barred from receiving social services. Yet, they contribute anyway.

In fact, according to the Center for American Progress, the taxes paid by undocumented immigrants have helped to keep the U.S. Social Security fund afloat. These undocumented families sacrifice not just for themselves, but for the well-being of everyone in this country, knowing that they may never reap the benefits of entirely. The undocumented students at NC State are trying to receive an education to contribute to society, just like every other student.

Even with all of this in mind, I know that we should not need a reminder of the financial contributions that undocumented immigrants give to this country in order to value who they are and the sacrifices they’ve made to be here.

Undocumented families are just like any other American family.Undocumented students are just like any other students. America is a country built by immigrants. For the North Carolina Senate to turn their backs on the undocumented immigrants and students of this state shows a complete disregard for this fact.

There hasn’t been a vote in the North Carolina House of Representatives on the bill, and no action has been taken since April of this year, which is a good sign for anyone who recognizes how potentially harmful this bill could be to our peers. But this does not mean anyone should forget what SB 145 intends to do.

The undocumented students at NC State are not financial burdens. They and their families are not taking anything from our state and our country. They contribute just as much as, if not more than, everyone else.

Undocumented immigrants and students at NC State do not need legal status to make it clear that, like all of us, they are Americans and they deserve to be treated as such.