Thread: Tennessee Lawmakers Advance Bill to Give Undocumented Immigrants In-State Tuition

Gardenhire and White Broaden Scope of In-State Tuition Bill to Cover More Illegal Immigrant Students, Including ‘Unaccompanied Alien Children’


March 29, 2017 Chris Alto


State Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) and State Rep. Mark White (R-Chattanooga) have broadened the scope of the 2017 version of the in-state tuition for illegal immigrant students bill they have introduced to the current session of the Tennessee General Assembly.


The 2015 Gardenhire/White bill that would have given in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students was restricted to grantees of Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.


The 2017 version of the bill now applies to illegal immigrant students classified in the “Unaccompanied Alien Child” (UAC) category of immigration status.


In his much publicized radio meltdown with WWTN’s Ralph Bristol on Friday, Sen. Gardenhire described an illegal immigrant his bill would provide in-state tuition benefits to as “somebody that’s got a 4.0 average, was the valedictorian of their class.”


But some UACs who would potentially be eligible for these taxpayer funded tuition breaks are not exactly the model citizens Gardenhire described.


In 2013, sixteen year old Edwin Mejia, a UAC from Honduras, was transported to Tennessee and released into the custody of his brother, an illegal immigrant living north of Nashville in Madison, Tennessee. The following year the two brothers moved to Nebraska where Edwin struck and killed 21-year old Sarah Root while he was drunk and street racing in his truck. Root had just graduated from college. Mejia posted bond and left town.


He is currently on the “Wanted List” of the Office of Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the Department of Homeland Security.


Had Edwin stayed in Tennessee for at least two years, graduated from a Tennessee high school and registered to attend a “state institution of higher education,” he would be eligible for in-state tuition under the 2017 version of Gardenhire/White bill.


While the 2015 Gardenhire/White bill that was limited to illegal immigrants in the DACA program passed the Senate, it failed in the House, coming up one vote short of the constitutionally required 50 vote minimum.


Before the Senate Education Committee passed SB1014, the 2017 version of his bill that extends in-state tuition privileges to UACs like Edwin Mejia, Sen. Gardenhire noted that this year’s version of the bill deleted any prior references to DACA requirements. The fiscal note to his bill, confirms however, that SB1014 “[e]xempts undocumented students from paying out-of-state tuition.”


As currently written, the bill passed by the Senate Education Committee last week and is scheduled in the House subcommittee, broadens its application to any and all students in Tennessee who have attended school in Tennessee for the two years immediately prior to graduation from high school that can be a Tennessee high school, completing a GED or HiSET from any state approved institution or organization, or completing high school in a Tennessee home school. A student would also have to be already attending a state institution of higher education or registered to start.
Given the explicit statement of the fiscal note, the bill would apply to any student who crossed the border illegally whether with or without an adult. One group of illegal border crossers that have been transported to Tennessee are classified as “Unaccompanied Alien Child (UAC).”


As defined by federal law a UAC is:

“a child who has no lawful immigration status in the United States; has not attained 18 years of age; and, with respect to whom, there is no parent or legal guardian in the United States, or no parent or legal guardian in the United States available to provide care and physical custody.”

During the 2014 UAC border surge that brought 1,294 UACS to Tennessee, Holly Johnson, director of Catholic Charities’ Tennessee Office for Refugees which operates the refugee resettlement program in the state, admitted that her agency helps link UACs to their family members in Tennessee.


Eben Cathey, speaking on behalf of the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), explained further, that the UACS were not simply “getting dropped off. They’re getting placed with their mom, dad, aunt or uncle.”


In 2015, the UAC arrivals to Tennessee dropped to 765 but increased to 1,354 in 2016. Arrival numbers stopped being reported in January 2017 which at that point in time included 687 arrivals to Tennessee.


Overall, reported data shows that the majority of UACs come from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The overwhelming majority of arrivals are boys between 15 – 17 years old.





http://tennesseestar.com/2017/03/29/...rant-students/

Related:

Tennessee Farm Bureau, the largest in the nation, supports in state tuition for illegal aliens.

https://www.alipac.us/f12/tennessee-...udents-345708/

Gardenhire Says Illegal Immigrant Students Will Pay For Empty Seats in State Colleges


March 30, 2017


Chris Alto

The Gardenhire/White bills SB1014/HB863 granting in-state college tuition to illegal immigrant students are moving through their respective chambers. As reported by The Tennessee Star, the Senate Education Committee passed Gardenhire’s bill last week in a 7-2 vote. Yesterday, the House Education Subcommittee on Planning & Administration was passed on a voice vote by Republican members Harry Brooks, Mark White, Eddie Smith and Democrats John DeBerry and Johnnie Turner. Rep. Dawn White asked to be recorded as a no vote.


The House bill is scheduled to be heard by the full Education Planning & Administration Committee next Tuesday, and the Senate bill has been referred to Senate Finance, Ways & Means Committee.


Gardenhire’s first attempt in 2014, never made it out of the Education Committee. The 2015 version of the Gardenhire/White bill passed the Senate 21-12. Despite a 49-47 House vote in favor of the bill it failed to achieve the constitutionally required 50 vote minimum.


Illegal immigrant students including any student granted a temporary two-year deferred deportation under Obama’s DACA program, are ineligible for federal financial aid for school. However, states and individual schools have discretion to provide financial assistance.


Tennessee’s HOPE lottery scholarship can be used at both four and two year higher education institutions whereas the TN Promise last dollar scholarship was intended for two-year schools or a TN College of Applied Technology, and only applies after all other funding sources have been used.


The Tennessee Star contacted Sen. Gardenhire and asked whether the students made eligible for in-state tuition by his bill, SB1014, would also be eligible for either the HOPE scholarship or the TN Promise program. Gardenhire responded:

“Chris, these kids don’t receive either of these benefits you mentioned. As far as I know, they do not receive any other education benefits. Also, two more important points. There has to be a vacancy at the school before they can be admitted (because of that, this has a very positive fiscal note). Second, we are making them pay the same thing as their fellow students they went through secondary school with.”

Nothing in the bill language that has been passed by the Senate Education Committee or the House Education Subcommittee states that illegal immigrant students paying in-state tuition at Tennessee colleges and universities must wait for a seat not otherwise awarded to a U.S. citizen or legal immigrant.


In fact, the fiscal note attached to the bill indicates that illegal immigrant students are already attending TN Board of Regents and University of Tennessee schools and paying out-of-state tuition.


Before voting to support Gardenhire’s bill, Sen. Jim Tracy said he wanted to help UT Martin fill their open seats because “we need more students in college…we are not at full capacity now…I’m just trying to reach more students.”


Gardenhire and White have repeatedly made the case for their bill based on the higher cost of out-of-state tuition rates making college economically inaccessible to illegal immigrant students.


Last week, the TN Board of Regents’ General Counsel informed the House Education Subcommittee that SB1014/HB863 creates an exception to Tennessee’s “Eligibility Verification for Entitlements Act” law which classifies in-state tuition as a state benefit that would otherwise be unavailable to anyone with an illegal immigration status.


If Tennessee’s legislators are able to change this state law to accommodate illegal immigrant students, it stands to reason that they might consider modifying other state laws that make illegal immigrant students eligible to receive state financial aid.



http://tennesseestar.com/2017/03/30/...tate-colleges/

Guest Commentary: ‘Gardenhire Republicans’ Want Subsidized Education for Illegal Immigrants and Sanctuary Campuses



March 29, 2017Admin


By Karen Lees




The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) reports that the burden of illegal immigration on taxpayers in Tennessee for both state and local expenditures jumped from $285 million in 2007 to $547 million in 2013, according to a FAIR 2013 study.


To add to that burden, proposed legislation that would grant eligibility for illegal aliens to receive in-state tuition is being considered this session by legislators at the Tennessee State Capitol.


In most cases, the discount for in-state tuition is roughly 50%, leaving Tennessee taxpayers with half the cost of tuition for each illegal student.

Senator Todd Gardenhire’s SB 0635 & SB 1014 and Representative Mark White’s HB 0660 & HB 0863 seek to abdicate the legislature’s delegated authority to a Board of Regents or other un-elected body governing Tennessee’s post secondary schools. With slumping attendance rates, the decision left to un-elected boards to fill empty seats in the classroom will take priority over compliance with federal immigration law and public safety.


The summary for SB0635 states:

This bill authorizes the governing body of each public institution of higher education to determine the qualifications that students must possess to be eligible for payment of in-state tuition and fees. All students who are not eligible for in-state tuition must pay the out-of-state tuition and fees set by the governing body.

Go to capitol.tn.gov for details.


To heap even more on the taxpayers’ backs, Senator Jim Tracy (R) amended Sen. Gardenhire’s similar bill, SB1014 to include students in ALL of Tennessee’s eight surrounding states within 100 miles of the TN border. The bill passed the Senate Education Committee last week 7-2 and is now headed for the Finance Ways and Means Committee. The seven “Yes” votes were Crowe (R), Dickerson (R), Gardenhire (R), Gresham (R), Haile (R), Tate (D), and Tracy (R). The two Senators voting “No” were Hensley (R) and Kelsey (R).


Watch video of the Senate Education Committee of Wednesday, March 22:


(Video at Link)


The proposed legislation goes against deliberately worded Federal immigration law targeting this exact type of state legislation, signed by President Bill Clinton. It also violates a TN state statute. Such policies encourage illegal immigration, are unfair to American citizens from other states, and will force taxpayers to fund the education of illegal aliens.




1623 of IIRIRA federal law states:

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State (or a political subdivision) for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit (in no less an amount, duration, and scope) without regard to whether the citizens or national is such a resident.

Immigration is delegated solely to the authority of the Federal government. See Article I, section 8 of the Constitution.


Other states that have similar laws are now facing lawsuits for violating the IIRIRA statute. The most frequent grievance is that out-of-state American citizens are unfairly denied the same benefits granted to illegal aliens. In Virginia and Maryland, out-of-state students were actually shredding their social security cards in protest. Taxpaying parents were equally outraged.


With the Trump administration’s tough stance on illegal immigration and Attorney General Sessions’ resolute statement concerning sanctuary jurisdictions on Monday, all indications are that the Justice Department will choose to aggressively pursue the issue of whether states are allowed to continue violating federal law by attracting illegal aliens with in-state tuition. AG Sessions made it clear when he said, “I strongly urge our nation’s states, cities, and counties to consider carefully the harm they are doing to our citizens by refusing to enforce our immigration laws, and to rethink these policies.”


Sen. Gardenhire (R) and Rep. White’s (R) illegal bills run contrary to President Trump’s stated priority to solve the nation’s overwhelming illegal immigration problem. By the way, have these legislators forgotten the #1 motivating factor that won Trump the Presidency? Americans, especially in red states like Tennessee, are highly energized by this issue.




At the behest of State Senator Gardenhire, a number of students – presumably illegal immigrants that would benefin from Gardenhire’s proposal – stand to be recognized, and were applaudedThis legislation will create an automatic “sanctuary policy” on college campuses, attracting criminal aliens looking for cover among the “undocumented” in Tennessee’s post secondary schools. (What better place for an illegal alien drug dealer to blend in and conduct business under cover than a college campus community?) As the word indicates, “undocumented” means that the necessary documentation for a student to qualify as “legal” cannot be verified by federal standards. But, “legal” for the purpose of awarding the benefit of in-state tuition at taxpayer’s expense will be pushed through with tortured language and logic by our Legislature if Tennesseans do not stop them.




A Heritage Foundation Immigration Report describes exactly how states have proposed to circumvent federal law:

To avoid IIRIRA’s mandate that in-state tuition be determined “on the basis of residence within a State,” some state lawmakers have created alternative criteria through which students might qualify for in-state tuition. Such alternative criteria are intended to act as a substitute for actual residence, which, in turn, creates the patina of compliance with the federal statute: Since residence is not at issue, there is, so these states argue, no conflict between federal and state law. In reality, however, the states are targeting illegal aliens for in-state tuition.

Sen. Gardenhire and Rep. White’s legislation circumvents federal law and the peoples’ right of representation by passing the decision-making buck to the Board of Regents or another unelected governing body. What is the possible motivation for knowingly violating federal law other than to gain more government control over taxpayer dollars?


Judicial Watch sued the state of California on behalf of a resident and taxpayer on the grounds that the state Legislature cannot hand over its authority in matters concerning federal immigration law – the same basis as the proposed Tennessee legislation. The Daily Signal reports:

The issue there is not whether the California Legislature can authorize in-state tuition to illegal immigrants…but whether the University of California Board of Regents, an independent body from the state Legislature, can lawfully authorize in-state tuition for illegal immigrants at all University of California campuses in direct violation of federal law.

Significantly, Tennessee recently became the first state to sue the federal government regarding the Refugee Resettlement program, represented at no charge by the Thomas More Law Center. According to Senator Mark Norris (R) of Collierville, the government is “forcing Tennessee to expend funds that have not been lawfully appropriated.” With Tennessee’s significant refugee population, shouldn’t Sen. Gardenhire and Rep. White include refugee students in their legislation to be fair and satisfy the requirements of federal law? If so, shouldn’t they also include all U.S. citizens in the legislation as the law demands? If we can’t afford to be fair – and we can’t – it is ridiculous to offer this only to non-citizens.


Tennessee legislators are evading federal immigration law and making TN a cash magnet for illegal aliens on the one hand, while at the same time, asserting Xth Amendment authority by their rightful refusal to fund the federal refugee program with the other hand.



In other words, to justify the in-state tuition argument, Tennessee is jeopardizing the success of their Xth Amendment court case with enough twisted logic to give us all whiplash.


Perhaps the real question should be this: Why are so many legislators disguising themselves as conservatives with the R brand by their name in order to get elected? It would seem we really have a super-majority of Democrats who haven’t a clue how to follow the Republican platform of smaller, fiscally responsible, less intrusive government.




http://tennesseestar.com/2017/03/29/...uary-campuses/

Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition [TIRRC]

Yesterday at 12:42pm ·






The momentum behind our Tuition Opportunity campaign is getting national attention! Today's vote in the House Education Committee was delayed, so you have another week to contact your representatives. Join us to help pass the bill and make history this year. http://wapo.st/2oy2GtF




Immigrant tuition break gaining support in Tennessee
A push to offer in-state college tuition rates to students whose parents brought them into the country illegally is picking up unlikely momentum from some…
WASHINGTONPOST.COM



https://www.facebook.com/tnimmigrant

Tennessee Lawmakers Fight for Bill to Protect Undocumented Students

By Jonathan Mattise, AP 4-04-2017



Image via The Associated Press A push to offer in-state college tuition rates to students whose parents brought them into the country illegally is picking up unlikely momentum from some Republicans in Tennessee, a deeply conservative state that voted overwhelmingly for President Donald Trump and his tough stance on immigration.



If they succeed, Tennessee lawmakers would join the overwhelmingly left-leaning Washington, D.C., as the only other governments to pass such an ordinance since Trump took office in January. Twenty other states already allow the in-state tuition.



To sell the idea, the bill's supporters have had to maneuver carefully, steering the debate away from illegal immigration policy whenever possible.



Instead, they are promoting the measure as an economic driver and an educational opportunity for students who didn't have a choice about crossing into the United States at a young age. They say the students are innocent victims of decades of political deadlock on immigration at the national level.



"I'm all for building the wall and U.S. sovereignty, closing our borders," said Rep. Mark White, a Memphis Republican and a bill sponsor. "But we didn't, and now we're damaging innocent people.


At the state Capitol, dozens of students whose parents crossed into the U.S. illegally and brought them along have gone lawmaker to lawmaker to share their personal stories. Republican Gov. Bill Haslam took time to meet and snap photos with them last month, and he has thrown his support behind the bill.


A House and Senate panel each have passed the proposal so far, and another House committee was scheduled to vote on it Tuesday.


Two years ago, when President Barack Obama was still in office, the proposal passed in the Senate and came one vote shy of passing in the House. The Senate may wait for the House to act first this year, Republican Speaker Randy McNally said.


Trump has spoken of mass deportations and building a U.S.-Mexico border wall. Nonetheless, White is optimistic the Tennessee bill has a chance.


"I'm just trying to protect Tennessee in the long run, because they're here," White said. "And if anybody thinks that we're going to send children who grew up here back out of this country, they're not living in the real world. We need to do what's the next best thing, and that's help them assimilate into our society."


According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, about 20 states offer in-state tuition to students who are either in the United States illegally or here under Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects them from deportation for two years and lets them work. A half-dozen or so of those states tilt Republican.


The Tennessee legislation would apply to students who have attended a state high school or home school program for two years.



Even if the bill passes, the students would not qualify for federal financial aid. Nor would they be eligible for state programs that offer students free tuition at community and technical colleges, said Ginger Hausser, director of external affairs for the Tennessee Board of Regents.


Sen. Todd Gardenhire, a Chattanooga Republican and the bill's sponsor in the Senate, notes that the state has already invested in the students by paying for their K-12 education, and that some have lived in Tennessee as long as their counterparts who are U.S. citizens. Yet they are required to pay three times what other in-state students pay to attend college, he said.
The bill's opponents are framing their arguments around illegal immigration. The same legislature continues to advance a bill that would cut funding to immigrant-protecting sanctuary cities.


"I don't think anybody in this room blames [the students]," Rep. Dawn White, a Republican from Murfreesboro, said in a committee meeting. "But, as a representative, I owe the state taxpayers the right to say, 'Why are we subsidizing illegal students?'"


Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus, Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition policy director, said she is optimistic about the bill's chances amid support from the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Tennessee Farm Bureau, the governor, and the state Board of Regents, which governs colleges, among others.


"We think that this is a real opportunity to remind people, remind legislators, that even in such a divisive climate we can all come together and agree that educating Tennesseans is important," Sherman-Nikolaus said.


Elman Gonzales, a 19-year-old who graduated from Sevierville County High School, said he could go back to East Tennessee State University if the bill becomes law. He had to drop out because tuition was $12,000 a semester, temporarily sidelining his hopes of becoming a doctor.



Gonzales, who was brought to Tennessee at 2 years old when his parents moved from Honduras, said he was "genuinely surprised" at the bill's movement so far, "considering the political atmosphere."


Telling lawmakers their stories one-on-one has made a big difference, Gonzales said.


"That to me is going to make the most difference because that shows them directly that these students are being affected by this, and how much their lives can change by voting yes on this bill," Gonzales said.

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Source URL: https://sojo.net/articles/tennessee-...ented-students

TN lawmakers consider in-state tuition for undocumented students



March 4, 2017


Sky Arnold

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Elman Gonzales came to the United States when he was three years-old. Gonzales attended high school in Tennessee and now has dreams of college.

"My dream ever since I was in middle school was to become a doctor," said Gonzales.



As an undocumented immigrant, Gonzales has to pay out-of-state tuition, which he can't afford. That may change though thanks to two bills sponsored by a Tennessee Republican lawmaker.

"I support the wall," said State Representative Mark White, R-Memphis. "I support strong enforcement if Congress had done something 30 years ago we wouldn't be in this situation."

Rep. White has sponsored two bills this legislative session to give undocumented immigrants a chance to qualify for in-state tuition.

One bill would allow undocumented students who've attended a Tennessee high school for two years to qualify for in-state tuition.

The other bill would give the governing bodies of public institutions of higher education the ability to decide if undocumented students and those from out of state qualify for in-state tuition. Because the issue is so controversial, Rep. White decided to strip the 'undocumented in-state tuition part' out of the second bill.

The bill to allow undocumented students in-state tuition is set to be debated in a house committee next week.

"Let's let them do it so they can prosper, raise good families, pay taxes, and do the right thing," White said.

White's bill will face opposition from his own party. Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver, R-Lancaster, is among them.

"Teach your children that we have laws in the land because if you let this slide, you're not teaching them the rules of law," Weaver said.

She said she's worried the bill is not fair to legal immigrants and students who live in other states.



http://fox17.com/news/local/tn-lawma...ented-students

"I support the wall," said State Representative Mark White, R-Memphis. "I support strong enforcement if Congress had done something 30 years ago we wouldn't be in this situation."

Rep. White has sponsored two bills this legislative session to give undocumented immigrants a chance to qualify for in-state tuition.

Oh geez, 30 years ago they were just like you are now. WEAK and STUPID. That's why this problem has never been solved, none of you lazy tards have the guts, courage, spines or loyalty to US citizens to do what's gotta be done.

Well, we've a got a President now who does and he will do it. President Trump will end this disaster called illegal immigration in the US once and for all. And when Americans see and enjoy the enormous benefits to our people and nation of the simple act of enforcing our immigration laws, there will be no going back.

Related:

https://www.alipac.us/f12/state-coll...-emplo-345928/

News from today. In-State Tuition fails in House Committee.

https://www.alipac.us/f12/tn-state-t...mittee-345967/