Thread: ALIPAC: States move against in-state tuition for illegal imm

States move against in-state tuition for illegal immigrants

In recent years, states have barred undocumented students from getting the lower tuition fees.
By Daniel B. Wood | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the April 3, 2009 edition

Los Angeles - Of all illegal immigrants, young people who were brought to the US as children have been the ones most likely to win concessions from the public. But the recession appears to be changing that, driving sentiment against educational benefits for undocumented college students.

Some states are explicitly refusing to allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition fees at colleges, reversing a previous trend. In-state tuition tends to be two to three times less than what out-of-state students pay.

Since 2006, four states – Georgia, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Arizona – have made undocumented students ineligible for in-state tuition rates. In Arizona, the ban came through a voter initiative after legislation was vetoed by the governor.

Last year, South Carolina banned undocumented students from enrolling at all in its public colleges, and North Carolina barred them from its community colleges in 2007.

By contrast, between 2001 and 2006, 10 states – among them California, Kansas, and New York – passed legislation awarding in-state tuition rates to undocumented students. The issue is current again in California, where a new bill would let undocumented students qualify for financial aid.

The economic downturn may be a factor in the recent shift. "Obviously, one of the biggest concerns for middle-class families right now is how to get their kids through college and how are we going to pay for this," says Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which advocates reducing immigration. "A large portion of middle-class America sees this as a real threat to the interests of their own kids."

Complicating the issue is an older federal law that says states can't make in-state tuition available for undocumented students unless they do the same for citizens from anywhere in the US. California, Kansas, and other states have faced lawsuits contending that they are violating this federal law. The California case was defeated, but the Kansas one is still on appeal.

Amnesty or investment?

About 65,000 of the 2.8 million American teens who graduate from high school each year are undocumented, according to assistant Senate majority leader Richard Durbin (D) of Illinois.

Last week, Senator Durbin and Sen. Richard Lugar (R) of Indiana introduced the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, a bipartisan measure to make it easier for undocumented students to become permanent residents if they came here as children, are long-term US residents, have good character, and attend college or enlist in the military for at least two years.

"Our current immigration laws prevent thousands of young people from pursuing their dreams and fully contributing to our nation's future," Durbin said in a statement. "These young people have lived in this country for most of their lives. It is the only home they know. They are American in every sense except their technical legal status."

But variations of this federal bill have been rejected before, with opponents charging that the measures amount to amnesty that rewards illegal behavior and encourages illegal immigration.

"These bills have not sat well with average middle-class taxpayers in this country, given the fact that every state university in the country is in trouble," says Mr. Mehlman.

However, the 10 states that have allowed undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition have "not experienced a large influx that 'displaces' native-born students or added financial burdens to their educational systems," says one study. The 2007 report by the research arm of the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF) also said that education would help these undocumented students pay more in taxes.

Some states – Connecticut, Missouri, New Jersey, Oregon, and Rhode Island – recently have proposed laws to give in-state tuition to undocumented students. Colorado also is pondering reversing its ban.

The Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee (ALIPAC) said it is stepping up its campaign to halt the bills in these states. The group, which has stopped such bills before, shows polls to lawmakers indicating that 80 percent of respondents oppose in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.

It also uses a network of Internet bloggers and radio talk shows to keep the issue alive. "If enough people are informed about these bills before they pass, a backlash is created which makes them fail," says William Gheen, president of ALIPAC.

California's dream act

The debate over undocumented students extends beyond tuition fees. In California, where illegal immigrants are allowed to pay in-state rates, a separate bill on financial aid was introduced recently by state Sen. Gil Cedillo (D) of Los Angeles.

The so-called California Dream Act would allow undocumented students to compete for financial aid at public colleges and universities in the state. About 25,000 undocumented students graduate from California high schools every year, according to Senator Cedillo's office.

The bill has passed the Legislature three times before but has been vetoed by the governor each time, says Cedillo's office.

Myrna Ortiz, a sophomore at UCLA who came to the US from Mexico as a child, is one student who would benefit from Cedillo's bill. She was forced to take the winter quarter off after running out of money. Her father is a mechanic, her mother a volunteer, and her undocumented status means she can't find work easily. She has an internship with a local immigrant-rights group, but that doesn't pay much either.

"We've been here our whole lives, and all we want to do is contribute back," says Ms. Ortiz.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0403/p02s01-usgn.html

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http://www.alipac.us/article4105.html

In state tuition works against Americans seeking higher education and it allows for more illegal aliens to take the jobs of American citizens and legal residents once their educations are complete as we know. This message must reach the ears of more American people and it must not be filtered by media and special interest groups.

Our lawmakers continue to fail us too, by not stopping "birthright citizenship" which allows more people to work against our government with their illegal alien family members through a misplaced title of "citizen." End birthright citizenship and so many free services and benefits would immediately cease. The "anchor" could no longer be used in the same way as history has shown. And the Democrats would have lost another constituency, unable to vote against the United States at every opportunity.

Psalm 139:14

Last week, Senator Durbin and Sen. Richard Lugar (R) of Indiana introduced the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, a bipartisan measure to make it easier for undocumented students to become permanent residents if they came here as children, are long-term US residents, have good character, and attend college or enlist in the military for at least two years.

Drop the college attendance and require Military Service and see just how many takers you get!

And we Americans are made by international law to give K-12 education to students, which is truly not fair. In other words Americans have been overly generous in my opinion. We are not even checking with E-Verify to make sure the parents can even work in the United States.

Remember the Grade Point Averages are and have been effected by the undocumented immigrants, too. Even this is not fair for American Students and their parents. Many American Students have been knocked out of higher class ranking due to the undocumented illegal students. A reduced class ranking has kept many American Students from going to college due to undocumented immigrants. I have seen this happen.

I truly fear the reactions when American Parents wake up to this fact of Grade Point Averages and how their children have been cheated out of college.

Please take action and make at least 3 phone calls or faxes against the Dream Act amnesty today. Every bit counts.

Illegal Alien students with an American K-12 education are a tremendous resource for the Third World we should be sending them back. A strict immigration enforcement is the best Marshall Plan for the Third World.

Daniel Wood is being generous in describing the role of ALIPAC his sentence should have used the word helped.

I am a legal immigrant and i am fortunate enough to be able to afford going to school. But i don't see why we should stop a smart kid who wants to pursue higher education from achieving it. The United States is the country with the highest rate of ignorant and uneducated immigrants and by stopping illegal kids from going to school, we would be pushing that number even further up. It is not their fault that their parents came to this country illegally. If they get a job when they graduate it will be because of their own merit and because they were smart enough to go through all the years and effort that takes to get a diploma. And if an American doesn't get that job because an immigrant did, it is because the employer considered that American applicant as not competent enough for that position.
I do not see illegal immigration as a positive thing for this country, but think about it, would you rather have an ignorant immigrant who, because of their social status, may eventually get involved in crimes and gang activity? or an educated immigrant who will contribute to this country?.
And if your answer is "get'em all outta here"... again THINK about the millions of dollars that it would cost to do that. Hopefully the government will come up with an smart solution.....hopefully...

lynx314: Deport yourself when papers expire.

And if an American doesn't get that job because an immigrant did, it is because the employer considered that American applicant as not competent enough for that position.

Employer did not use E-Verify; Americans are going to get E-Verify - lynx314. I promise you.

And lynx314 tell everyone you know about the working of 287g Program.

Aiding and abetting illegal immigrants will get even you prison time.

And if your answer is "get'em all outta here"... again THINK about the millions of dollars that it would cost to do that. Hopefully the government will come up with an smart solution.....hopefully...

Deport yourself lynx314 and others and then it will not cost Americans.

Originally Posted by vmonkey56

lynx314: Deport yourself when papers expire.

I am an american citizen, so papers will not expire.

Employer did not use E-Verify; Americans are going to get E-Verify - lynx314. I promise you.

And THAT American who didn't get the job needs to study harder. Or maybe he shouldn't have been doing drugs when he went to college.

Deport yourself lynx314 and others and then it will not cost Americans.

Is that all you can come up with?"deport yourself and others?"
I actually expected a smart and objective answer, not one from a short-minded person who can't take an opposite point of view.

I know illegal immigration hurts the country, and if you (vmonkey56) are intellectually able to read (at this point I am not sure), go find out what Europe did with Ireland when Irish people were illegally emigrating years ago.