GA: GOP senators want colleges to say no to illegal students

GOP senators want colleges to say no to illegal students
June 17, 2010

By Mary Lou Pickel

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Several Georgia Republican senators and some gubernatorial candidates in both parties say illegal immigrants should be barred from the state's public colleges and universities.


"Persons not lawfully present in the United States are not eligible, regardless of tuition rates, to attend taxpayer supported colleges and universities in Georgia," 14 state GOP senators wrote in a letter to the Board of Regents on Wednesday.

"Listen, we're serious about this," said Senator Don Balfour, (R-Snellville) senate rules committee chairman. "We don't expect to hear from them in the next day or two. We expect them to be sitting down and going over this and coming up with the right solution that answers the question.

"If they don't, we go into session in January and can pass laws that make sure that they do."

The debate over illegal immigrants attending public universities intensified after a Kennesaw State University senior was discovered to be in the country illegally and paying in-state tuition. The state’s universities have been ordered to check the citizenship status of all students by this fall.

Several gubernatorial candidates expressed support for barring access to public universities to student who are in the U.S. illegally. Spokesmen for GOP gubernatorial candidates Eric Johnson, Nathan Deal, John Oxendine and Karen Handel confirmed their candidates support this action.

According to the senators' letter, out-of-state tuition does not cover the full cost of a student's education at a public university. Even if an illegal immigrant were to pay the higher out-of-state tuition, his or her attendance would still be subsidized by taxpayers, the letter said.

"We have laws in the country that we need to obey," Balfour said. "It's not a right to go to college. It's a privilege. We should give those spots to U.S. citizens or legal aliens."

Jerry Gonzalez, spokesman for the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, the idea of barring illegal immigrant students from higher education was unwarranted and would become moot.

"The whole issue is really ridiculous," Gonzalez said. "It's not a matter of if immigration reform is going to happen; it's a matter of when. These kids have earned their space to a university setting. They've gotten the great grades and gotten extraordinary test scores."

Gonzalez added, "Ultimately immigration reform is going to pass -- these students will eventually become legal and productive members of our society. It's just mean-spirited and really evil for these senators to try to deny access to education for any of these kids."

Some Democratic gubernatorial candidates also supported the idea of limiting access for illegal immigrants to Georgia public colleges and universities.

"If they're in this country illegally, competing for jobs with our people and slots for our students from Georgia, then that should not be allowed," Dubose Porter said. "They should only be able to apply with legal status,"

David Poythress, another candidate, said illegal immigrants should not receive in-state tuition, and the Board of Regents should not be put in the position of enforcing federal immigration laws.

"I don't think the regents, any more than private industry, ought to be made co-enforcers of United States immigration laws," Poythress said.

www.ajc.com

These illegal immigrant students need to go to the end of the line. The end of the line starts behind legal citizens who can't get the classes they need because of cut backs in our educational system.

American kids clear across the U.S. are struggling to get the classes they need to complete their degrees. It is not simply a matter of tuition costs. It is a matter of finding room in a class. It is not fair to make U.S. citizens compete with illegal students for that seat in a class.

American students have a dream too. The dream of being able to go to college and complete it in four years has now changed to being able to complete it in five to six years. Where once the stress for students was taking their finals, now it is getting the classes they need.

It is not a matter of GPA to get into the classes needed. I have wittnessed first hand my grandaughter who carries a 3.8 GPA stressing over her computer as she tries to get into needed classes.

I don't think the public understands how the system works. The students are given a time window to enroll in their classes. As classes are being cut for financial reasons the enrollment process is becoming harder.

They have to take into consideration what they need to take and make sure the classes don't conflict with other classes they need. They have to make sure they are carrying enough credits for their financial packages to remain in effect.

So they are all posed at their computers waiting for their time of enrollment to start. Getting the classes needed ends up on the odds. It is not always the most qualified, it is a lot of luck and being fast on the computer.

So I say these illegal students should not be able to compete at the same time as American students for these classes. Everytime they take a place in these classes denying access to a legal student they are stealing the dream of an American.