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THINK ILLEGAL ALIENS WON'T GET IN-STATE TUITION? DREAM ON

Barbara Anderson

April 6, 2006

In the “guest worker” bill that isn’t an amnesty, (according to its supporters), there are lots of goodies for our guests if they are made legal. Only one of these is in-state tuition. That is, if an illegal wants to go to school in another state, he/she may be eligible for in-state tuition now, but if the “guest worker” bill is passed, the uncertainty will be removed and all will be able to access our institutions of higher learning, although citizens who reside in another state may not.

The states who generously provide in-state tuition benefits for illegals now are: Texas, New Mexico, California, Utah, Illinois, Washington and Kansas. The bill in the Senate now being debated would turn all states into in-state tuition granting states. Because college slots are scarce, this would mean that citizens and legal residents of the U.S. would have to compete with those who came into the country illegally.

This ambition has been embodied in the DREAM act, which has been proposed for many years, but has been wisely ignored by the full Senate. What the proponents could not get in a single bill may be enacted as part of the “guest worker” bill, buried so deep that probably even some senators are not aware of it.

As early as March, 2003, Catholic Charities USA was writing letters to senators such as Ted Kennedy, Orrin Hatch and Dick Durbin, thanking them for their “strong support” for “the U.S. raised child immigrants lacking immigration status”.

That is, thanks for supporting the right of in-state tuition for illegal aliens who want to get a break on their tuition, even if they are out of state. A DREAM act for illegals, certainly, but what about the young citizens they may squeeze out of a college degree?

One senator who was interviewed on TV said the so-called compromise bill being pushed through the Senate right now is over 500 pages long. What mastermind, let alone a U.S. senator, could absorb just what is in this goodie bag? Certainly, we have not heard from these same senators just which of our swamped immigration agencies will be able to handle the rush of illegals trying to legalize themselves.

Also, there was little or no discussion about securing the border. A relatively few agents would be added, which will not seal the border. This is the 1986 amnesty bill all over again. Lots of rights for illegals, but no security on the border, ensuring millions more coming across at the rate of up to 10,000 per day, according to recent border patrol reports. This is a “lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig” bill.

Nonetheless, our senators seem poised to rush through a bill, just to say they got it done this session. Unless there is a great outcry from their constituents, senators will push this monstrosity of a bill through. They don’t want further discussion that might reveal just what is in the bill. This legislation has the potential for more damage than any since the last immigration amnesty, billed at the time as absolutely, positively the last such law that would be passed. We were promised border security. We see what happened there. The same cast of characters that lobbied for the last amnesties are lobbying now for the same double cross. They are most interested in their own agendas and not interested in the least in closing the borders.

What we see are the Republicans serving their big business masters by ensuring an endless supply of cheap labor. What we also see are Democrats licking their lips in anticipation of all the new, poor workers voting Democrat. It is, as they say, a win-win situation for the senators. But, who is looking out for the average middle-class citizen, or even the low-wage earners, who will surely be replaced by lower wage earners, once the coast is clear for businesses to hire them legally?

To get any representation, citizens have had to look to private “watchdog” types of groups to go to bat for them. One such group is the Washington Legal Foundation Advocate for Freedom and Justice. A prominent action brought by WLF was on August 9, 2005, when WLF filed a formal complaint with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) against Texas, charging that Texas is violating the civil rights of U.S. citizens who live outside of the state. WLF charged that Texas is violating federal law by offering in-state college tuition rates to illegal aliens who live in Texas, while denying those same rates to nonresident U.S. citizens. WLF called on DHS to bring appropriate enforcement action against Texas, including ordering Texas to refund excessive tuition charges.

The present law states under United States Code, Section 1623. Limitations on eligibility for preferential treatment of aliens not lawfully present on basis of residency for higher education benefits, (a) in general:

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 citizen or national is such a resident.

(b) Effective date. This section shall apply to benefits provided on or after July 1,1998.

This law is to protect citizens’ rights to in-state tuition as fairness; if an illegal alien is given such a right, so must that right be given a citizen. Those rights have been ignored and infringed. Illegal aliens’ advocacy groups have legal representation ready to assist them, but student citizens have little for Freedom and Justice. The Washington Legal Foundation does not have lots of federal money with which to mount its defense against the entrenched special interests on the other side. I have no connection with WLF, but it seems to me that citizens who are tired of seeing every special interest group represented against their own best interests, could even up the playing field a bit by supporting WLF as it goes to bat for the ordinary citizen. In this David vs. Goliath battle, David could sure use some more weapons.