Thread: Md. Senate Weighs bill to give in-state tuition to Illegals

Md. Senate weighs bill to give in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants

By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 10, 2011; 12:19 AM

Giving undocumented immigrants in-state tuition benefits at Maryland colleges would violate federal law, send the wrong message to law-abiding immigrants and be unfair to taxpayers, state legislators opposed to the measure said Wednesday.

Opponents of the controversial legislation appeared outgunned in the Senate but vowed to fight on. A vote on the measure may come as early as Monday, after proponents crossed a procedural threshold late Wednesday evening.

"This is the most flawed piece of public policy I have ever, ever seen," said Sen. James Brochin (D-Baltimore County).

Proponents said it makes moral and practical sense to allow undocumented immigrants who attended Maryland high schools to pay the same tuition as their high school classmates who are legal residents or citizens.

The Supreme Court ruled decades ago that all children are entitled to a high school education up to the 12th grade, regardless of their legal status. Proponents want to make Maryland's colleges just as accessible, said Sen. Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George's).

The debate was especially emotional because of the group at its epicenter: undocumented immigrants brought to this country as children.

Paul, 18, an Annapolis High School senior who did not give his last name because of his undocumented status, came with his mother from El Salvador, crossing the border illegally.

"I did not have a choice," he said.

Now a standout student who is applying to Yale University and other Ivy League schools, Paul said outside the Senate chamber that he is hoping to be eligible for in-state tuition benefits at Maryland colleges and financial aid at the other schools. He said dozens of his classmates are undocumented immigrants.

The discussion on the Senate floor was marked by acrimony. When Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller (D-Calvert) called at one point for polite debate, Minority Leader Nancy Jacobs (R-Harford) said, "That's not going to happen!"
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Proponents and opponents characterized one another as out of touch.

Jacobs demanded to know how Maryland could in good faith offer foreigners who had broken federal immigration laws in-state tuition benefits, while giving foreigners on legal student visas at the same schools a tuition bill three times higher.

"These individuals have the opportunity for education in the state," David R. Brinkley (R-Frederick) insisted, referring to undocumented immigrants. "The question is who is going to pay for it. The fact is this is going to cost money. And lots of it."

Under the measure, undocumented immigrants would be allowed to pay in-state tuition at community colleges in the same county in which they graduated from high school if their parents were Maryland taxpayers. After two years and 60 college credits, students could transfer to a state college in their junior year if there were space and the students had good grades.

State educators and college administrators have backed the measure.

Advocates said that the difference between in-state and regular tuition for two years of community college and two years at a state school is about $26,000.

About 10 other states, including California, Texas and New York, have passed similar measures. And Montgomery College offers discounted tuition rates to undocumented immigrants who graduate from county high schools, though that practice is being challenged in court by Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group.

In-state tuition for undocumented immigrants is under siege in several states, including Texas and Kansas. The GOP-controlled Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill this year that would have banned undocumented immigrants from public colleges and universities, but the measure died in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

In a strategy pursued by proponents in other states, Maryland legislators are linking in-state tuition benefits to high school attendance, rather than to residency in Maryland, given that undocumented immigrants are not legal residents of the United States.

Pinsky said it is unthinkable that Congress will not one day provide a path to legal status for many of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country. When that day comes, he said, Maryland will be better off if its undocumented immigrants had gone to college and were prepared for citizenship and economic success.

Staff writer Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to this report.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 05116.html

We have to vote all the Democrats out in Maryland. They will always help illegal aliens. We do not want illegals in our country. Deport all illegal aliens and the Dems as well.

boy
( mod edit .)
you want to have tuition to Undocuments immigrants .
what about our Kids .. what in it for you ? a big fat pay check well american wake the hell .
no amnesty