Thread: NC: AG says admission of illegal immigrants should be limite

AG says admission of illegal immigrants should be limited

By MARTHA WAGGONER
Associated Press Writer

Posted: Today at 5:11 p.m.
Updated: 44 minutes ago

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina's community colleges should drop a lenient admissions policy for illegal immigrants and return to more restrictive rules that follow federal law more closely, the state Attorney General's Office said.

The 58-college system now admits illegal immigrants who are 18 years old and high school graduates - and others allowed under federal guidelines - to all campuses under a policy it adopted in 2007. A spokeswoman for the nation's third-largest community college system said officials would take the contents of the letter, dated Tuesday and released Wednesday, under advisement.

The stricter guidelines "would more likely withstand judicial scrutiny," said JB Kelly, general counsel for the Attorney General's Office.

The state should revert to that policy because the Department of Homeland Security hasn't assessed the more lenient policy, he said. Leaving the door open for lawmakers to act, Kelly said the state would need to rely on federal advice unless the Legislature passed a law on admission standards.

Kelly did not immediately return phone calls and an e-mail seeking comment.

In November 2007, the community colleges' attorney decided that the schools must admit illegal immigrants as long as they were 18 years old and high school graduates. That ruling updated a 2004 rule that left the decision up to individual campuses.

Martin Lancaster, who was system president at the time of the 2007 ruling, said Wednesday that the decision disappointed him.

"I believe that every North Carolinian, everyone residing in our state who will ultimately become a part of our work force, should be educated," said Lancaster, who retired last year as system president.

Community college system President Scott Ralls was unavailable for comment because of a family emergency, spokeswoman Audrey Kates Bailey said. She said the system "is taking it under advisement and will respond accordingly." Kelly emphasized that the advisory letter is not an official opinion from the Attorney General's Office.

Kelly recommended returning to a policy written in December 2001 that bars illegal immigrants from taking college-level courses unless they meet standards outlined in federal laws

That 2001 decision said illegal immigrants who are high school students can take college-level courses, and illegal immgrants of any age can enroll in non-college level courses or programs, such as English as a second language.

The decision said both positions appeared to correspond with federal law. Illegal immigrants of any age who meet certain federal standards, such having been subjected to "extreme cruelty," can also take college-level courses, the decision said.

Officials with El Pueblo in Raleigh and Student Action with Farmworkers in Durham did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

http://wral.com/news/state/story/2848401/

Illegal immigrants of any age who meet certain federal standards, such having been subjected to "extreme cruelty," can also take college-level courses, the decision said.

Whaaaat???

Whaaaat???

Its North Carolina. What do you expect ?

Originally Posted by lateone

Whaaaat???

Its North Carolina. What do you expect ?

LOL I've lived here most of my life (NC) but still... that statement doesn't make sense! "Extreme cruelty" = college? Puhleeze! Maybe I'm just having another Homer Simpson moment....

"I believe that every North Carolinian, everyone residing in our state who will ultimately become a part of our work force, should be educated," said Lancaster, who retired last year as system president.

Can an illegal alien be a North Carolinian?

Published: May 08, 2008 12:30 AM
Modified: May 08, 2008 04:50 AM

AG: Close colleges to illegal aliens

The advice derails a movement to grant in-state tuition to graduates of N.C. high schools

Kristin Collins, Staff Writer
Public colleges in North Carolina should not admit illegal immigrants as students, the state Attorney General's Office advised in a letter released Wednesday.

If followed, the advice would reverse policies at the state's 58 community colleges and at the 16 four-year institutions in the University of North Carolina system, which allow illegal immigrants to attend. It also damages a movement to grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrant teenagers who have attended North Carolina high schools.

"It really closes the door of opportunity for a lot of kids," said Andrea Bazan, president of the Triangle Community Foundation, a philanthropic organization, and a longtime Hispanic advocate.

The letter to the general counsel for the Community College System, which was dated Tuesday but released to The News & Observer on Wednesday, said that higher education is a public benefit that illegal immigrants are not entitled to under federal law.

The state could pass a law allowing students access regardless of their immigration status, the letter says. Otherwise, a policy prohibiting illegal immigrants "would more likely withstand judicial scrutiny," wrote J.B. Kelly, general counsel in the office of Attorney General Roy Cooper.

Kelly recommended that the colleges revert to a policy that would allow illegal immigrants to take only non-college level courses, such as adult high school and English as a second language.

The community colleges asked for the attorney general's opinion in December, after then-President Martin Lancaster directed all 58 campuses to admit illegal immigrants. Until then, the campuses set their own policies, and about a third barred illegal immigrants. Though the letter is addressed only to the community colleges, the advice applies to all state-funded higher education institutions.

Officials in the Attorney General's Office could not be reached for comment on the letter, which Kelly specified was advisory and not a formal opinion. Both are nonbinding recommendations, but an opinion goes through a more formal review process.

Lancaster, reached just hours before his retirement party Wednesday, said only that he was disappointed.

"Every lawyer is entitled to their opinion," he said, "but the Attorney General's Office carries more weight than mine."

Gov. Mike Easley also supported Lancaster's decision. Efforts to reach Easley on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Leaders at the University of North Carolina System and the Community College System also declined to comment. Audrey Bailey, a spokeswoman for the community colleges, said President Scott Ralls was out of town at a funeral and had not yet reviewed the letter. "We're taking it under advisement," Bailey said.

Joni Worthington, a spokeswoman for the UNC system, said UNC had not received the letter.

Currently, only a handful of illegal immigrants are students at North Carolina's universities and community colleges. The UNC system says 27 of its more than 200,000 students are illegal immigrants. The community colleges have reported that 340 of their 271,000 degree-seeking students are here illegally.

All pay out-of-state tuition, which is greater than the cost of their instruction -- meaning the schools make a profit from these students.

However, many say that North Carolina should not provide higher education to illegal immigrants, regardless of the cost. And some argue that the costs are higher than the schools' calculations show, when taking overhead and infrastructure into account.

'The key word is "illegal" '

Federal law requires that elementary and secondary education be provided to all children, regardless of their immigration status. State Sen. Richard Stevens, of Cary, said the state should provide only what is required.

"The key word is 'illegal,' " Stevens said. "They got here illegally and now they want to claim all the benefits."

Stevens said he asked the Attorney General's Office to consider the federal statute that became the basis of its advice. If the office hadn't issued the letter, Stevens said he would have supported legislation in the upcoming session to expressly bar illegal immigrants from colleges and universities.

Now, he said, that bill may not be necessary.

Advocates, including Bazán, called the advice "extreme." Several states provide in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, and she said that in years of fighting for a similar policy in North Carolina, she has never heard this federal law invoked.

The letter says that the "scope and applicability" of the federal law barring higher education is "unsettled" and cites conflicting legal rulings on the issue. It also says that enforcement of the federal law is the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security, but that the department has not provided any guidance on how to interpret the law regarding higher education.

'Permanent underclass'

Bazán said that, by denying illegal immigrant students a chance at college, "we are creating this permanent underclass."

"We're not talking about thousands of kids," Bazán said. "We're talking about just a handful of kids who have made it to the top of their class and want to contribute."

Peter Kaufman, a University of North Carolina history professor, works with some of those students. He runs the Scholars' Latino Initiative, which mentors Hispanic high school students who want to go to college.

Kaufman said he has four illegal immigrant students in the program this year, two of whom plan to attend public colleges in North Carolina. He said all are teens who had no choice about moving to the United States, and that all have succeeded despite poverty and limited English skills.

"These are kids who are extraordinarily disciplined and gifted," Kaufman said. "But we can't tell them that achievement is going to mean clear sailing."

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/higher ... 65111.html

The decision said both positions appeared to correspond with federal law. Illegal immigrants of any age who meet certain federal standards, such having been subjected to "extreme cruelty," can also take college-level courses, the decision said.

Extreme cruelty! Since illegals are so celebrated for their propensity for truth telling, I guess this means that EVERY single illegal who applies has been admitted thus far.

Originally Posted by usatime

"I believe that every North Carolinian, everyone residing in our state who will ultimately become a part of our work force, should be educated," said Lancaster, who retired last year as system president.

Can an illegal alien be a North Carolinian?

According to nuts like Mike Easley & Martin Lancaster they can. The rest of us know better, but of course we're a bunch of racists.

The letter to the general counsel for the Community College System, which was dated Tuesday but released to The News & Observer on Wednesday, said that higher education is a public benefit that illegal immigrants are not entitled to under federal law.

Remember the IA activists mantra "immigration enforcement is a federal matter", thereby admitting federal law trumps all? So does this. They can't have it both ways.