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  1. #1
    Administrator Jean's Avatar
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    N.C. - Bill would bar illegal immigrants from public colleges

    Posted: Tuesday, March 5, 2013 9:58 pm | Updated: 10:19 pm, Tue Mar 5, 2013.

    Bertrand M. Gutierrez/Winston-Salem Journal


    George G. Cleveland


    Chris Whitmire

    Two state House Republicans filed a bill Tuesday that would keep state community colleges and universities off limits to “illegal aliens,” including immigrants who qualify for a two-year reprieve from deportation issued by the federal government.

    The bill had no co-sponsors.

    Facebook Question of the Day: What do you think of the proposed bill that would prevent illegal immigrants from enrolling at state colleges and universities?

    As things stand now, immigrants without legal permission to be in the U.S. are allowed to attend state community colleges and universities but must pay out-of-state tuition. Under House Bill 218, titled No Postsecondary Education/Illegal Aliens, a “person who does not have lawful immigration status under federal law shall not be admitted to or take any class” at a state community college or university.

    The two sponsors, Reps. George Cleveland of Jacksonville and Chris Whitmire of Rosman, could not be reached by phone or email for comment.

    The bill targets all unauthorized immigrants, including those who have no lawful status because they entered the U.S. illegally or because they entered legally but let their valid visas expire. It includes immigrants who have no lawful status but have qualified for the reprieve from deportation under a federal initiative known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which was implemented by President Barack Obama.

    Immigrants who qualify for deferred action have “lawful presence” in the U.S. but do not have “lawful status.”

    The “status” refers to a person’s residency designation given by the federal government, such as “permanent resident,” visa holder or citizen.

    Because deferred-action immigrants were either brought into the U.S. illegally or entered legally but have expired visas, they do not have a lawful status — no avenue to being a citizen, permanent resident or a visa holder. But because they qualify for deferred action, they are lawfully present in the U.S., according to federal immigration authorities.

    Regardless of their lawful presence, the bill would block DACA immigrants from higher education.

    Access to higher education is just one issue involving DACA immigrants. The Republican-led General Assembly and executive office have questioned whether such immigrants should have access to other privileges regulated by the state, including driving privileges.

    State transportation officials plan to start March 25 issuing distinct pink licenses to immigrants who have qualified for deferred action, but a bill filed recently by a group of House Republicans would block that effort until June.

    The bill was filed a little more than a month after Lt. Gov. Dan Forest said – in response to a state attorney general’s office opinion affirming that DACA immigrants are eligible for licenses – that Obama is “willfully ignoring the laws on the books and should be constitutionally challenged on this point by Congress.”

    “While Congress has not acted, we in North Carolina can and should. … Just as the President is willfully ignoring the laws on the books, we instead willfully choose to enforce them to the best of our ability,” Forest said.

    Immigrant advocates said Tuesday legislation that temporarily blocks licenses or permanently blocks higher education is out of sync with the bipartisan effort in Washington to negotiate comprehensive immigration reform.

    Dani Moore, the director of the N.C. Justice Center’s Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, said that instead of barring unauthorized immigrants from higher education, the legislature should expand in-state tuition to such immigrants, many of whom were brought to the U.S. as children and were educated in public schools.

    “We strongly oppose the bill,” Moore said. “It is mean-spirited and shortsighted.”

    Bill would bar illegal immigrants from public colleges - Winston-Salem Journal: State / Region
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  2. #2
    Super Moderator imblest's Avatar
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    Immigrant advocates said Tuesday legislation that temporarily blocks licenses or permanently blocks higher education is out of sync with the bipartisan effort in Washington to negotiate comprehensive immigration reform.
    These folks need a history lesson and a lesson on the Constitution. We are a nation of STATES that have many powers the feds are not supposed to even have. We can decide these things for ourselves--we don't have to follow what Washington is doing!!
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

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