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09-20-2014, 09:14 PM #1
Candidate’s Vow to Kill "Texas Dream Act" In State Tuition Law
Candidate’s Vow to Kill Tuition Law Makes Some in His Party Squirm
By ALEXA URASEPT. 20, 2014
Leticia Van de Putte and Dan Patrick, who are running for Texas lieutenant governor, oppose each other over the Dream Act. CreditMarjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune
If elected lieutenant governor in November, State SenatorDan Patrick, a Republican, has vowed to work to repeal the law that allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at Texas community colleges and universities.
His stance on the issue puts Mr. Patrick, widely considered the favorite, squarely at odds with his Democratic opponent, State Senator Leticia Van de Putte, who sponsored the measure, known as the Texas Dream Act, in 2001, when it passed with overwhelming Republican support. While his call for a repeal could gain traction among some conservative lawmakers, Mr. Patrick could face criticism from business groups that support the law, and could hurt the efforts of Republicans who are trying to reach out to Hispanic voters.
“It unfortunately can serve as a detriment to our outreach efforts,” said George Antuna, a founder of Hispanic Republicans of Texas, adding that most Hispanic Republicans considered the law good policy. His organization recruits and supports Hispanic Republicans running for office.
Expanded coverage of Texas is produced by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit news organization. To join the conversation about this article, go totexastribune.org.
The Texas Dream Act allows undocumented immigrants who graduate from Texas high schools and have lived in the state for at least three years to pay in-state tuition at public community colleges and universities. The act has been popular among Hispanics, while many Texas Republicans who identify with the Tea Partydisapprove of the law.
While Mr. Patrick did not respond to a request for comment, he has said that he would work to repeal the law, which he equates with giving people who entered the country illegally a leg up in the admissions process. In a recent fund-raising letter, Mr. Patrick wrote that he opposed “taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal immigrants.”
Mr. Patrick is also likely to face opposition from the Texas Association of Business, which recently endorsed him. (The association is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune.)
“We think in-state tuition is a very appropriate response to the fact that we need more Texans going to college and completing college,” the association’s chief executive, Bill Hammond, said, adding that the group’s endorsement of Mr. Patrick was not an endorsement of all his positions. “We choose to disagree with him respectfully on this issue.”
There have been several failed attempts by state lawmakers, including Mr. Patrick, to repeal the Dream Act. Such efforts have not gained traction.
But the 31-member State Senate is likely to be more conservative in the coming legislative session, and only one of the Republican senators who voted to pass the law will return in January.
Ms. Van de Putte described Mr. Patrick’s opposition to the tuition law as “anti-education” for the state’s immigrants because repealing the act could keep Texas residents who “are here by no fault of their own” from attending college. “His first order of business is to repeal something that has been working in our state for 13 years,” Ms. Van de Putte said.
Further efforts to repeal the law will come after Gov. Rick Perry, who signed it into law and has adamantly defended it, leaves in January.
Without the threat of a veto, Republicans who oppose the bill but were apprehensive about the ramifications of a repeal would be left with no “cover” to oppose a repeal, according to Mark P. Jones, a political scientist at Rice University. (Rice is a corporate sponsor of The Tribune.)
Mr. Jones said there was likely to be a close and controversial Senate vote to repeal the law, although it could run into “insurmountable” obstacles in the House and among Republicans looking to connect with Hispanics.
“This is a losing issue for Republicans” even if they block an attempt to repeal, Mr. Jones said. “A strong and visible effort to repeal would be devastating.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/us...ty-squirm.htmlNO AMNESTY
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09-20-2014, 09:16 PM #2NO AMNESTY
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