Thread: Lawsuit Filed Over Tuition for Illegal Immigrants

Lawsuit Filed Against Montgomery College Over Tuition for Illegal ImmigrantsBy Maggie Clark, Capital News Service
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ANNAPOLIS—Three Montgomery County residents, backed by the conservative Washington-based advocacy group Judicial Watch, filed a lawsuit Thursday against Montgomery College for allowing illegal immigrants to pay in-county tuition.

Currently, illegal immigrants are allowed to attend Maryland public universities but must pay out-of-state tuition.

Former Republican congressional candidate Mike Phillips, one of the three residents who filed suit, said he signed on because he saw the situation as "grossly unfair."

"When our elected officials not only turn a blind eye but look taxpayers in the face and say 'Nope, we're going to do it regardless of what the law is in the state of Maryland,' then I find it necessary to take action," Phillips said at a press conference to announce the suit Thursday in Annapolis.

The other two litigants are Patricia Fenati and David Drake, also Montgomery County residents.

The three sought the support of Baltimore County Delegate Pat McDonough, who said he was contacted by Montgomery County residents who felt like their complaints against the college's practices were falling on deaf ears.

"I felt that if I did not respond to those people, I would be engaging in obstruction of justice," said McDonough, a Republican who plans to introduce 15 anti-illegal immigration bills this session. "To have knowledge of illegal acts as a public official and do nothing, that would be immoral."

In response, Montgomery College officials said they are simply basing tuition rates on residency.

"Montgomery College offers its lowest tuition rate to all recent Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) graduates," said Montgomery College's communications department, in a statement. "Students who have not graduated from a MCPS high school within the last three years must provide proof of residency to receive the lowest rate, unless otherwise permitted by law."

Sen. Richard Madaleno, of Kensington, is supportive of the college and its tuition policies and critical of McDonough.

"By offering in-state tuition to qualifying students, they are helping to ensure that we continue to have a well-educated and dynamic workforce, which is a benefit to all Montgomery County residents," said Madaleno, who is sponsoring the Maryland Dream Act, a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to pay the in-state or in-county tuition at all Maryland public universities.

"Instead of working to find constructive solutions to the issues that are facing our community, Delegate McDonough is making a name for himself," Madaleno said.

The taxpayers appear to have legal precedent on their side. In a similar situation with Prince George's Community College in 2006, the Maryland attorney general issued an opinion saying that the college's board of trustees "currently lacks the authority to extend in-county tuition benefits to undocumented aliens."

The attorney general's opinion said that in-county tuition is based on residence, which cannot be established by people who entered the country illegally.

"An individual who is neither a citizen of the United States nor lawfully admitted to this country does not have the legal capacity to be domiciled in Maryland," the opinion reads.

http://germantown.patch.com/articles/la ... immigrants

not only should the college take the hit...ICE should arrest each of the illegals who register and if in fact they are illegal, deport them and if family members are illegal deport them as well. Illegals have put the spotlight through DREAM on themselves by showing the AMERICAN public where they have infiltrated. Is time we root them out arrest and deport them. Use things like enrollment to our advantage in pinpointing specific illegals.

"By offering in-state tuition to qualifying students, they are helping to ensure that we continue to have a well-educated and dynamic workforce, which is a benefit to all Montgomery County residents," said Madaleno, who is sponsoring the Maryland Dream Act, a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to pay the in-state or in-county tuition at all Maryland public universities.

And no doubt the term "qualifying students" is meant to include illegal invaders who cannot legally work in this country. So much for the “well-educated and dynamicâ€

The Courts in California upheld instate tuition for illegal immigrants the same way that college is trying to. They ignore the legal status and allow anyone who attended a California High School for 3 years instate tuition.

Tuition breaks for illegal immigrants? Montgomery College faces lawsuit


Montgomery College recently formalized a policy of granting its lowest tuition rates to a group that includes some undocumented students. A lawsuit claims the policy violates federal and state laws.

By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo, Staff writer / January 28, 2011

Montgomery College in Maryland is the latest stage for the wider debate over tuition breaks for illegal immigrants.

The community college recently formalized a longstanding policy of granting its lowest tuition rates to anyone who has graduated from a Montgomery County high school in the past three years. It does not require proof of legal residency.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of county taxpayers this week claims the policy violates federal and state laws that disallow various benefits for illegal aliens.

Supporters of the college’s policy say there’s no good basis for the lawsuit. Helping undocumented high school graduates afford higher education, they say, provides both social and economic benefits to the county.

The federal DREAM Act, which didn’t make it to the finish line in Congress last year, would have created a path to citizenship for students brought to the United States illegally as minors if they met certain criteria. Instead, such students are subject to a wide variety of state laws on enrollment and tuition at public colleges.

Ten states have laws extending in-state tuition benefits to undocumented students – California, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin. An 11th, Oklahoma, allows its university system’s governing board to do so, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

Three states ban in-state tuition for such students – Arizona, Colorado, and Georgia. And South Carolina bans illegal immigrants from enrolling altogether at public colleges and universities.

In a typical year, 30 to 50 bills on either side of the tuition issue are introduced in the states, says Brenda Bautsch, an NCSL education-policy specialist in Denver.

Already this year, lawmakers in California, Nebraska, and Oklahoma have launched efforts to repeal tuition-break laws.

In Maryland, lawmakers have been squaring off. Democratic state Sens. Victor Ramirez and Richard Madaleno are proposing to make some undocumented students eligible for tuition benefits. Republican Patrick McDonough, a Maryland state delegate who encouraged the suit against Montgomery College, is proposing ways to tighten immigration enforcement.

The lawsuit against Montgomery College “is a political maneuver to flare tensions around the topic of immigration, and it has really struck a chord,â€