Thread: TX: A&M senate backs bill against in-state tuition for i

A&M senate backs bill against in-state tuition for illegal immigrants

by WFAA.com
kens5.com
Posted on November 5, 2010 at 12:28 PM

COLLEGE STATION - A vote at Texas A&M University has pitted students against each other.

Thursday night, student senators approved a bill officially opposing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.

Prior to the vote, students in opposition took to the campus with protest signs.

About 300 undocumented students currently attend the university. According to state law, students who graduate from a Texas high school and meet certain requirements can get in-state tuition at public universities.

The controversial bill packed the house at the senate meeting Wednesday night.

"The bill is just saying automatic in-state tuition based on residency in Texas should not be applied to people who are in the country illegally," said Justin Pulliam, a Texas A&M student senator.

"We're against this simply because this shouldn't be at the student senate," said Jose Luis, a Texas A&M senior. "The student senate at Texas A&M is there to help Aggies, not to hurt Aggies or to cause emotional pain."

The final vote ended with 41 in favor of the bill, 26 against and two abstaining.

The student senate does not make policy, so the vote is not binding.

www.kens5.com

Good Job AGGIES Student Senate!! Keep up the good work! You're absolutely right of course and keep kicking the ball down the field. That's 300 Americans who could have had a seat at Texas A & M but were pushed out because of illegal aliens.

I personally don't think any illegal aliens should be admitted to any college or university in the United States with out-state tuition. They're still in the country illegally and stealing seats from American Kids in violation of US law at any tuition price should be a crime. Oh wait ... I think it IS a crime. Enforce the law, Texas, round up these illegals and deport them.

Good, I think I read an article last spring about ILLEGALS having the "right" to have instate tuition being a topic of the A&M student government but did not pass, seems like progress.

Found the previous article/post:

http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-197751-0-da ... state.html

A vote at Texas A&M University has pitted students against each other.

Thursday night, student senators approved a bill officially opposing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.

Illegal invaders shouldn't even be allowed to attend our colleges, let alone receive in-state tuition, while American citizens have to pay out-of-state tuition.

It gives the unlawful foreigners advantage over Americans.

Dixie

Current Article concerning In-state Tuition for ILLEGALS in the A&M school online newspaper, The Eagle, go to the link at the bottom to vote in the poll also some interesting comments by readers on the below article:

A&M student senate opposes in-state tuition for illegal immigrants
By VIMAL PATEL
vimal.patel@theeagle.com

Poll:
Do you think Texas A&M students who are not legal U.S. residents should pay in-state tuition?

Yes
No
I'm not sure

Texas A&M's student senate took a stance opposing in-state tuition rates for immigrants here illegally, and a state legislator said he plans to file a bill with the same message this session if the courts don't take action.

"That money could be used for U.S. students who need loans or grants," Rep. Leo Berman of Tyler, who would introduce the bill, told The Eagle on Thursday. "It shouldn't be going to illegal aliens in the United States."

About the A&M student senators' vote, Berman said, "Good for them."

On a 41-to-26 vote Wednesday, after nearly three hours of listening to audience members and debate, senators approved Student Senate Bill 63-11, which is non-binding but represents the official voice of the student body.

"We looked at the issue of justice," said Justin Pulliam, one of several senators who introduced the bill and chair of the Texas Aggie Conservatives. "American citizens who are out of state are having to pay $15,000 more to go to this school, while illegal immigrants get the rate of in-state tuition even though they can't legally work after they graduate."

Of the roughly 30 audience members who spoke about the bill, only a few supported it. An audience of about 100 held signs with sayings such as "Discrimination is not an Aggie value," "We don't choose to be illegal," and "Aggies don't fight Aggies."

Selene Gomez, a senior, saw racial undertones in the vote. She knows of Hispanics who didn't come to Texas A&M because of its reputation as a "white school."

"We want to break away from that," she said.

Some said the discussion was inappropriate to be having in the A&M student senate and harms the university's goal of projecting a more welcoming environment for everyone.

"Don't use Texas A&M as a lobbying agency," said student Collin Laden, president of the Memorial Student Center.

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

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.

Rep. Fred Brown of Bryan said he would support any effort to bar undocumented students from receiving in-state tuition rates, framing it as an economic issue.

"We're going to have to make up a huge shortfall," the Republican said about looming budget reductions. "That is a small part of it, but at the end of the day, everything adds up."

State Sen. Steve Ogden of Bryan could not be reached for this story.

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.

Less than 1 percent of the Lone Star State's 1.2 million higher-education students are covered under the legislation.

In a statement Thursday, a Texas A&M official noted that all of the state's universities must comply with state law.

"The Student Senate is an independent body of the university that is free to discuss and act upon issues that the group deems of interest," said A&M spokesman Jason Cook in a statement. "As a state institution, however, Texas A&M adheres to state law and promotes our core value of respect across the Aggie family."

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Notice about comments:

Theeagle.com is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. Theeagle.com cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurat

http://www.theeagle.com/am/Aggies-oppose-tuition-breaks

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!

The Pro-ILLEGAL comments have again resorted to personal attacks including making fun of student’s appearance and of course their certain fall back of BIGOT!

http://www.theeagle.com/am/Aggies-oppose-tuition-breaks

Originally Posted by lccat

The Pro-ILLEGAL comments have again resorted to personal attacks including making fun of student’s appearance and of course their certain fall back of BIGOT!

http://www.theeagle.com/am/Aggies-oppose-tuition-breaks

When you are crass, it's obvious.

Dixie