Thread: Tenn - Higher Ed has cost concerns over immigration bill

Higher Ed has cost concerns over immigration bill
March 3, 2009

A proposal to make Tennessee's public colleges and universities more carefully screen out illegal immigrants has been delayed for two weeks in a House subcommittee. Higher education officials raised concerns about the cost of heightened enforcement.



Rep. Stacey Campfield, a Knoxville Republican and sponsor of the measure, says officials aren't doing enough to determine whether students are U.S. citizens.

Higher education officials currently rely on students to accurately fill out forms that ask for their Social Security numbers, home addresses and which high school they graduated from.


University of Tennessee lobbyist Anthony Haynes says it would be unfair to ask schools facing deep budget cuts to bear the increased cost of immigration enforcement.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090 ... 9/-1/RSS05

Maybe they should worry about the cost to taxpayers of subsidizing the education of illegals.

Higher Ed has cost concerns over immigration bill
By ERIK SCHELZIG • Associated Press Writer • March 3, 2009

A proposal to make Tennessee's public colleges and universities more carefully screen out illegal immigrants has been delayed in the House after higher education officials raised concerns about the cost of heightened enforcement.


Rep. Stacey Campfield, a Knoxville Republican and sponsor of the measure, says officials aren't doing enough to determine whether students are U.S. citizens.

Higher education officials currently rely on students to accurately fill out forms that ask for their Social Security numbers, home addresses and which high school they graduated from.

University of Tennessee lobbyist Anthony Haynes told the House Higher Education Subcommittee it would cost more than $500,000 a year for each school to more rigorously vet students' immigration status.

Haynes suggested it would be unfair to ask schools to bear those increased costs while higher education faces deep budget cuts and layoffs.

"Please, when we're seeing hundreds of people in higher education who will probably lose their jobs, don't give us one more job," he said.

Campfield argued that checking student's high school diplomas doesn't prove they are legal residents because federal law guarantees access to public K-12 education.

But Board of Regents lobbyist David Gregory said school officials don't have specific qualifications to spot illegal immigrants.

"We do not see ourselves in the role of immigration police," he told the panel.

Campfield also suggested that illegal immigrants enrolled in public colleges and universities could be denying citizens access to key classes and keep them from graduating within four years.

Rep. Joe Pitts, a Clarksville Democrat, disputed whether illegal immigrants lead to a failure to graduate on time, citing his own son's experience at Austin Peay State University as an example.

"He squeezed four years into six," he said. "It was more of a human behavior issue than anything else."

The panel is scheduled to take up the bill again in two weeks.

Also at the legislature...
A proposal that would require a person to show photo identification to vote is advancing in the Legislature.

The measure sponsored by Sen. Bill Ketron, a Murfreesboro Republican, passed the Senate State and Local Government Committee 6-3 on Tuesday. The companion bill has been assigned to a subcommittee in the House.

Present law requires a voter to supply evidence of identification in order to compare the person's signature on the voter's ballot application, but that would no longer be sufficient under this proposal.

Ketron says the legislation would add integrity to the voting process, but opponents of the bill are concerned it would actually discourage people from voting.

Read more at the Tennessean's political blog 'In Session.'

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090 ... 002/NEWS01

"He squeezed four years into six," he said. "It was more of a human behavior issue than anything else."

Well, Mr. Pitts, it sounds like human behavior that your inadequate parenting has produced.
And you feel you have the right to try to put taxpayers in the position of Daddy (Daddy will pay for everything) when the economy is in disaster.
And horsecrap that properly vetting students costs so much more. It is up to the student to prove they are eligible. The verification of eligibility process will be handled by employees already paid salaries for making sure someone's graduation certificate and their score on entrance exams is authentic. Where does the extra cost come in?