Thread: Bill targets illegal students

http://www.redandblack.com/vnews/displa ... 8c0b02952c


Bill targets illegal students
Immigrants may have to prove legal status

By DANÉE ATTEBURY
Published , September 27, 2005, 06:00:01 AM EDT




A representative from Athens said he supports a bill to prevent illegal immigrants from attending public universities in Georgia.

Sen. Brian Kemp, R-Athens, said he supports Senate Bill 170, which would require people to prove their legal status to receive taxpayer-funded services such as public colleges, welfare and public housing.

Sen. Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, said that under the proposed law, college applicants would have to show a form of identification that proves their status as legal residents, such as a driver’s license, military ID, green card or visa.

The only current requirement for proving Georgia residency is to have a Georgia address, so illegal immigrants in the state can get in-state tuition, he said.

Kemp said he supports the bill because Georgia residents already have a difficult time getting into the University, and they should get in before illegal immigrants.

Currently the University has only four undocumented immigrant students, said Provost Arnett Mace.

Salvador Arriola, a senior from Dalton and member of the Hispanic Student Association, said he does not support Senate Bill 170.

He said he believes that illegal immigrants should have the opportunity to attend college.

“Maybe it’ll help them in the long run,� he said.

However, Kemp, the vice chairman of the Georgia Senate Committee on Higher Education, said tuition does not pay the entire cost of attendance.

“The state pays a good portion of that,� he said.

Arlethia Perry-Johnson, spokeswoman for the Board of Regents, said in-state tuition pays about 25 percent and tax dollars pay about 75 percent of students’ cost of attendance.

Out-of-state students pay the full cost of tuition, she said.

Admission to public colleges in Georgia is based on merit, not residence status, and the regents are interested in resident status only to determine tuition, she said.

Rogers, who introduced the bill, said that by providing services to illegal immigrants, the state is spending millions of dollars in benefits daily on people who have not paid for them.

He said the state does not have enough money to pay benefits to all disabled residents, yet it spends money on services for illegal immigrants.

The government has limited resources, Rogers said, and the purpose of the proposed law is to ensure tax dollars are spent on taxpayers.

“Do we have an unlimited supply of resources? The answer is no,� he said.

He said that it is not the the U.S. government’s responsibility to figure out what illegal immigrants can do if they are barred from attending public universities.

“They should return to wherever their home country is,� Rogers said.

“Do we have an unlimited supply of resources? The answer is no,� he said.

He said that it is not the the U.S. government’s responsibility to figure out what illegal immigrants can do if they are barred from attending public universities.

“They should return to wherever their home country is,� Rogers said.

Seems like Georgia is a front runner in not caving to illegals. New Hampshire is trying and so is North Carolina.

This proposal will not stop them! They already have fake driver's licenses and social security cards and everything else. What you need is a national identity data base! yes, a national ID card!

I have no doubt that there are illegals at least here in Colorado in our community colleges because the community colloege of Aurora runs a program on their television station where these non English speaking women come on and talk about their scholarships and what not? I could be wrong but I have little doubt that they are illegal! Whether it is ESL or any other class why is our government using our funds to educate illegals?

My wife attended a English class here in Aurora and she said everyone was ILLEGAL except for her and one other lady!

These stupid proposals to change this law and that are just stupid if you have NO ENFORCEMENT! DEPORTATIONS!

added to homepage.

http://www.alipac.us/article754.html