Thread: NC: Illegal immigrant issue still not clear

Illegal immigrant issue still not clear

By Kristin Collins, Staff Writer
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RALEIGH - RALEIGH - North Carolina community colleges will likely return to admitting illegal immigrants while the state board that oversees the colleges studies a permanent policy.
Members of the State Board of Community Colleges, who met this afternoon, said they are not ready to decide whether to allow education for illegal immigrants at the state’s 58 community college campuses. A board committee voted to hire a consultant to further study the issue. The full board is expected to approve hiring the consultant on Friday.

The study would take several months and, in the meantime, Community College System officials say they would have to adhere to their current policy, which is to admit all students with a high school diploma.

“This study will be critical to our working out a reasoned policy on this hot potato issue,â€

Am proud of Sue Myrick for her stance.

NC community colleges to admit illegal immigrants?
The Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C.

North Carolina community college officials appear willing to reconsider a ban on admitting illegal immigrants, as they look for a way to balance students' educational needs with issues of fairness.

The State Board of Community Colleges on Thursday met to discuss a July decision from the Department of Homeland Security, which said that the federal government does not bar community colleges from admitting illegal immigrants.

During the discussion, several members indicated that they are interested in revising the community college systems' current policy, which restricts admission to students who are in the country legally. Officials established that restriction in May because they were concerned that allowing illegal immigrants to attend school _ even if they were charged more expensive out-of-state tuition _ violated federal law.

With the system of 58 community colleges free to set its own policy, board president Scott Ralls said members should consider easing that rule to afford all children an opportunity to get an education.

"I have difficulty with the notion of punishing minors for the actions of their parents," Ralls said.

Ralls noted that less than one half of one percent of the system's approximately 800,000 students _ 112 at last count _ are illegal immigrants and out-of-state tuition more than covers the cost of a student's education.

Board member Stuart Fountain said officials should, at a minimum, implement the same admission policy of the University of North Carolina system.

The UNC system allows illegal immigrants to attend school if they have graduated from a U.S. high school, pay out-of-state tuition and do not receive government financial aid.

A more restrictive policy which requires community college admissions employees to verify applicants' status would be nearly impossible, explained Van Wilson, the college system's associate vice president for academic and student services. Wilson said there are no systems designed to check students' residency status and that requiring staff to conduct the "very labor intensive" checks would be burdensome.

The North Carolina Association of College Presidents asked the board to revert to the system's previous "open door" policy that allowed any person, regardless of educational background or legal status, to be admitted.

North Carolina Association of Educators President Sheri Strickland also sent board members a letter saying teachers are concerned that their students will not be able to further their education if they are not legal residents.

But Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue _ an ex-officio member of the committee who joined Thursday's meeting by conference call _ urged the board to hold off on changing the ban. She urged the board to retain the current policy and give members ample time to study the issue.

"I think for us to change course ... in the middle of this stream to me borders on the point of being absurd," Perdue said.

Officials have changed the state's community college admissions standards four times over the last eight years.

Perdue _ the Democratic candidate for governor _ and her Republican counterpart _ Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory _ oppose allowing illegal immigrants to attend community colleges.

For now, the directive restricting community college admission to legal residents remains in place.

The board will meet again Friday to discuss the system's admission standards and likely vote on a measure which would allow the community college system to hire an outside consultant to study admission practices in other states.

Fountain said members need more information before they can craft a new admissions policy to answer the illegal immigrant question. He said he's interested in learning how other states verify which students are legal residents.

The study means that it will take several months before a new, permanent admissions policy is created, Fountain said.

"There are too many unanswered questions bouncing around," Fountain said.
http://www.fayobserver.com:80/article_ap?id=127901