Defer: (verb) to put off (an action or event) to a later time; postpone
She finished high school. She worked hard to get into college. She saved for tuition by working in a chicken plant. She borrowed the rest.
She went to class. Became a model student. Majored in nursing.
Got a degree. Celebrated the degree. Was proud of the degree.
Only later to find out that her degree is worthless. She can't get a nursing license. Not here. Not in Arkansas.
If you've ever had a mischievous younger brother pull a chair out from under you, you might know what a handful of nursing students are going through here in Arkansas, once called The Wonder State, but now has many wondering just what th' heck is going on.
At least nine nursing students and/or graduates have been told that their nursing degrees aren't going to be worth much. So says the state's Nursing Board, which has begun denying licenses to DACA kids.
You know the DACA kids, Gentle Reader, for they've been in the papers lately. The official name of the program is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, but they're better known as Dreamers. They aren't exactly legal, nor do they have their papers in order. Mostly because they might have been toddlers when they got to this country. But the state of Arkansas will make these children pay for the sins of their fathers. So much for "deferred action" for those who came here as children before they had any say in the matter.
And after all this time! They've saved money, spent money, borrowed money not only from the government in the form of student loans, but from their own families. Just to get through the rigors of college. And all the hours studying! They took classes that most of us wouldn't want to touch with a 10-foot tongue depressor. Pharmacology sounds detailed. Microbiology sounds exacting. Pediatrics sounds loud. Chemistry. Anatomy. Pathophysiology. (Pathophysiology?)
And once they've taken and passed the courses . . . Sorry, but you can't get a license to practice in Arkansas.
Why?
According to Sunday's paper: "Deferred status falls short of 'legal status,' and federal law does not consider recipients to be 'qualified aliens' eligible for public 'benefits' handled at the statewide level, such as professional licenses. Legislatures may grant people with deferred status access to those benefits, but most states, like Arkansas, have not." The state's Nursing Board is just now figuring that out. And just now informing all those who've worked so hard.
Which sounds like the way the state says, hey, we're just doing our job. As the one and only Cool Hand Luke noted, calling it your job don't make it right, boss.
The governor of this state, the always unruffled Asa Hutchinson, doesn't get as het up as most folks. But this was about as indignant as the man gets publicly: "It is a very unfortunate situation in which these students got an education in good faith, and our communities depend on them." He then mentioned something about Congress needing to pass comprehensive reform to the immigration system.
Well, when the messiah comes, everybody will be legal and there'll be no problems. But until Congress is sprinkled with magic bipartisanship dust, the Legislature of this state could do what other legislative chambers have done in more than one of the several states and allow these kids to get their licenses. That, or these kids would be forced to move to one of the more enlightened states just to follow their calling. And being a nurse is a calling every bit as much as those who chose the clergy.
Or are we all so healthy here in Arkansas that we don't need the additional help in our hospitals and clinics?
Better to change the law. And until then, put off and postpone--or defer--actions that would prevent these kids from getting their licenses until we have more time. Like, after we're dead.
Come, let us reason together. We're sure we read that somewhere.
Editorial on 10/19/2017