Thread: TA&M-Senate President Jacob Robinson's SUPPORTS ILLEGALS

The senate President is just another patronizing, condescending, arrogant Elitist with his own self serving agenda who knows better than the majority of the Student Senate.

A&M student senate tuition bill fails
By VIMAL PATEL
vimal.patel@theeagle.com

Buy a print Eagle photo/Stuart VillanuevaTexas A&M student Justus Lotade holds up a sign Wednesday in support of SB 63-11 during a meeting of the Student Senate. Buy a print Eagle photo/Stuart VillanuevaAccounting major Maria Gomez, wearing face paint in opposition of SB 63-11, listens during the meeting.
Texas A&M's student senate shot down a bill that opposed in-state tuition rates for immigrants here illegally on a 34-25 vote, ending a controversial debate to set the official stance of the student body.

"I was not elected to this position to negatively impact any Aggie who put me here," said student senator Brody Smith, who voted against the bill. "They took the same application process to get here that we did."

As he clapped after the vote count, he said, "I think the student body has been vindicated."

The Student Senate earlier this month voted 41 to 26 to approve Senate Bill 63-11, but it was vetoed by Student Body President Jacob Robinson . On Wednesday night, the bill's backers had hoped to receive two-thirds of the vote to override Robinson's veto.

Texas A&M student Justin Pulliam's crusade to oppose in-state tuition for immigrants here illegally was born in April out of a concern for fairness, the animal science major says.

"It didn't seem fair that out-of-state Americans were struggling and having to pay $15,000 more while people here illegally were getting the tuition break," the 20-year-old senator and chair of the Texas Aggie Conservatives said.

"I can't be too disappointed. We had great success, and got students talking," he said after the vote.

A packed, standing-room only crowd filled the senate chambers to voice their opinions on Senate Bill 63-11, which doesn't have teeth but would have represented the official stance of the Texas A&M student body and a commitment to expend lobbying resources to argue against the current law.

"Texas A&M has no business dealing with someone's immigration status," said student Camden Breeding, a junior electrical engineering major. "Hate is not an Aggie value."

The audience members spoke passionately, one screaming, as people on both sides framed the issue as one of fairness, holding signs that read "Make Them Pay!" and "Aggies Stand Against Discrimination."

Aaron Alghawi, who drew murmurs as he shouted for the allotted two-and-a-half minutes, said it was unfair that illegal immigrants receive in-state tuition rates. He said his father, from Lebanon, came to the U.S. in 1975 legally.

"It's an insult to people like my father," said Alghawi, a junior economics student from Ohio paying out-of-state tuition.

In-state tuition at Texas A&M costs roughly $5,200 a year, while out-of-state tuition runs $19,600.

Robinson explained why he vetoed the bill. He said he received letters from across the country saying he doesn't love America, and noted that Rep. Leo Berman of Tyler, who wants to ban in-state rates for undocumented students, called his stance "ridiculous" in a Fox News story.

Robinson stood by his veto.

"It sends the wrong message to people outside of Texas A&M about Texas A&M," Robinson said. "The Texas A&M Student Senate is here for the betterment of each and every student -- each and every student."

The state law defining residency doesn't specifically mention illegal immigrants and describes eligibility for in-state tuition with conditions that some undocumented students could satisfy, such as living in Texas the three years leading up to high school graduation and signing an affidavit indicating intent to apply for permanent resident status.

Proponents of the current law argue that it does not favor non-citizens over citizens, given that it would only take citizens a year to establish residency without having to graduate from a Texas high school.

Texas A&M last year had about 300 of the roughly 12,000 students statewide who claimed residency under the law, passed in 2001 and revised in 2005, that allows undocumented students to receive in-state tuition.



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http://www.theeagle.com/am/A-amp-amp-M- ... bill-fails

gandaff - [i]I love your condescending attitude while attempting to make your point. Everyone enjoys a lecture by Elitist superior individuals. And again you are most likely still surprised that Al Gore did not win! Feel free to define anyway you wish. The point is we will lose our sovereignty as a nation but I suppose to Elitists that is OK as long as you get you’re One World Government. You as most Elitist including some in the Student Senate and of course the Student Senate President see the world as one large college class case study were you are never concerned about real life results, after all in a class room environment a person does not have a consequence to worry about other than a class grade. The Elitist compete in a class just to see if they can win; if not no harm and no consequences, they just start another case study. The Elitist have never had a “realâ€

Again, "IN-State tuition for ILLEGALS now replace innocent American students in the limited seats in college at a time when over 10% of Americans are out of work and their families are struggling to train for new jobs and pay for college. The Texas in-state tuition legislation violates a 1996 Federal law. Why would you support in-state tuition for the ILLEGALS that will attract more ILLEGALS to Texas and America and train ILLEGALS for jobs it is illegal for them to have. These students should go back to their HOME countries and stop draining our resources that could be used to assist United States Citizens and not the ILLEGALS! Just follow the money! The Elitist Politicians and their Elitist Political Contributors want to continue to have United States Citizens pay the benefits for their ILLEGALS while they continue to have their BOTTOM LINES increased at the taxpayer's expense!"

http://www.theeagle.com/am/A-amp-amp-M- ... bill-fails

"These children have only their ILLEGAL parents to blame; they became ILLEGALS when their parents entered the U.S. as ILLEGALS and setup their own Children as ILLEGALS. They parents most likely continued the invasion with the exploitation of the 14th Amendment to create an Anchor for U.S. Citizens to furnish benefits! The Elitist Politicians and Elitist Contributors are socializing benefits to the ILLEGALS for the ILLEGAL EMPLOYERS, veiled as social programs for U. S. Citizens, on the backs of U.S. Citizens through our assets such as the Education System, Social Security, and Health Care not to mention our National Security while privatizing the profits for themselves! The reason the ILLEGALS have the Anchors, furnishing a opportune sob story, is to stay in the U.S. to receive the benefits, their Anchors are nothing more than throwaways for their agenda; if they were important to the parents they would take their children with them when they returned to their HOME countries . They do not want to be Citizens of the U.S. only to the extent that it would allow the ILLEGALS to remain in the U.S. for our tax money and they will return to their home countries as soon as they have drained the U.S. Dry. "

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