ALIPAC: NC Community colleges ban illegal immigrants

[zeezil]

Libidiot Press Wailing and Gnashing their teeth:

Decision unfairly penalizes illegal immigrants’ children
by • published May 16, 2008 12:15 am

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In a misguided effort to comply with a federal law that’s apparently being misinterpreted, the state’s community college system decided earlier this week to bar people in the country illegally from pursuing an education on its campuses.

It’s a decision that serves no good end, but if not reversed, will potentially cause considerable harm to individuals trying to better their lives and to North Carolina’s economic health.

The people affected in most cases are young people who came to the U.S. as children with their parents through no choice of their own. They have gone through North Carolina public schools and, barring some drastic change in immigration policy, are likely to remain here.

Denying them the opportunity to get an education increases the likelihood that they will become dependent rather than contributing members of society and makes it far more likely that their children, who will be U.S. citizens if born here, will be disadvantaged as well.

Lawmakers fail us

The fault for the predicament ultimately lies at the feet of the U.S. Congress, whose members would rather pander and pontificate than make sensible, workable immigration law. Their failure leaves states and local governments struggling with impossible conundrums.

In this instance, community college officials unwisely chose to dodge the heat of controversy by hiding a poorly written federal law.

The controversy began months ago when the state community college system sent out a memo requiring its 58 campuses to admit students without regard to their legal status. Until then, under a policy adopted in 2004 that left the decision to individual campuses, some had denied admission to people in the country illegally.

The memo set off an uproar, causing the community college board to ask state Attorney General Roy Cooper’s office for a clarification of the law. Cooper’s office responded with a letter advising community colleges to drop the lenient admissions policy.

The letter suggested that following stricter guidelines approved in 2001 under which illegal immigrants were not eligible for a public post-secondary education would be more likely to withstand judicial scrutiny.

“We asked the Attorney General’s Office for clarification of our present policy and will abide by their advice,â€

[boxersbear]

That article reeks of "La Raza" and "El Pueblo" rehtoric. I heard on the news someone from El Pueblo saying that saying that telling children that are here illegally that they can't go to a community collage is like telling them they can't go to McDonalds. I have to say those people have much bigger balls than I do. Either that or they ARE that stupid.