Thread: Kansas bill to repeal illegal-immigrant tuition

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/l ... 650669.htm

Posted on Wed, Jan. 18, 2006

Bill targets illegal-immigrant tuition

TOPEKA -- An effort to repeal a 2004 Kansas law allowing illegal immigrants to obtain in-state college or university tuition began Tuesday in the Legislature.

The measure, House Bill 2615, was initiated by Rep. Becky Hutchins, a Holton Republican. She said the state was sending the wrong message by offering reduced tuition to undocumented immigrants.

"We have to rethink our priorities," she said. "This is something a lot of us were bothered by."

Supporters of the 2004 law vowed to fight Hutchins' repeal effort.

More than 200 students have enrolled under the 2004 law and are paying in-state tuition. Most of those are in community colleges or vocational colleges according to Melinda Lewis, spokeswoman for El Centro, a Hispanic advocacy group in Kansas City, Kan.

-- Jim Sullinger

This should be a learning experience for all states. Once they PASS a bill like this, it's much harder to repeal it. Once something like that is already in place, I'm afraid they are going to have an uphill battle. Please keep us posted on the progress of this, had_enuf.