Thread: Editorial: Engage in this in-state tuition debate on merits

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=N ... le&sid=360

4/21/2005
The Daily Dispatch
Serving Henderson, Vance County, North Carolina and surrounding areas
Topics: Illegal immigration, legislation, laws, El Pueblo, HB 1183, Americans, Legal Immigration
Controversy is broiling around a proposal - initially backed by many lawmakers and former Gov. Jim Hunt - to allow the children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at North Carolina universities.

Hunt, Andrea Bazan-Manson of the Hispanic advocacy group El Pueblo in Raleigh, and a number of other dignitaries announced the bill's introduction on April 12. Thirty-five lawmakers signed on as sponsors or cosponsors, though nine - after public backlash - have since withdrawn.

Read the latest headlines about illegal immigration.

The debate already is devolving. Bazan-Manson cites obnoxious opponents who've used language like "Third World sheet-rock hangers" and "mexicanos Ã…Â* have litters of babies" in their written complaints to her about the bill.

"I don't believe that most North Carolinians agree with the folks that have written to me," Bazan-Manson said.

If Bazan-Manson believes most North Carolinians aren't crass bigots, we agree with her. But if this bill's supporters think that most North Carolinians approve of this legislation, they might have another think coming.

Hunt and the bill's backers think extending in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants is an economic development initiative that will lower the Hispanic dropout rate and prepare them for the U.S. job market.

Opposition begins with the notion that an immigrant's illegal status should preclude them from receiving benefits reserved for citizens and legal residents. Opponents also believe that our porous immigration system won't be tightened by offering benefits that might make it even more attractive to covertly enter this country and this state.

Those quite contradictory viewpoints will generate plenty of debate, without getting derailed by angry rhetoric.

So ignore those individuals who can't manage to voice their opposition to this bill without resorting to racist or demeaning language. And ignore whomever would lead you to believe that anyone who might oppose the bill is that kind of bigot.

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