Thread: NV: Proposed bills to restrict aid to illegal immigrants

Proposed bills to restrict aid to illegal immigrants
By: Mark Skinner

Assemblymen Bob Beers and Ty Cobb proposed separate bills for the 2009 legislative session to place restrictions on illegal immigration laws.

Cobb's bill focuses on restricting access to public assistance, including the Millennium Scholarship. A similar bill proposed by Beers last year was defeated by a wide margin.

"You have to make a distinction between legal immigrants, like my grandmother, and illegal immigrants who have violated our laws," Cobb said. "I don't think they deserve to receive tax-payers' benefits."

According to Cobb, every year, $90,000 to $100,000 in Millennium Scholarship money is given to students who are in the country illegally. Cobb said it is unacceptable that this money should be spent on these students in a time when budget cuts are plaguing Nevada's educational system.

According to Cobb, the state saw a major decrease in illegal immigration when Arizona enacted similar legislation earlier this year.

In an article published on http://CNN.com, Dawn McLaren, a research economist at Arizona State University who specializes in illegal immigration, attributes the decrease in immigration to the economy, particularly a decrease in the construction industry.

According to the Nevada Office of the State Treasury, almost $6.2 million was distributed last academic year to students. This indicates that, according to Cobb's figures, between 70 and 80 undocumented students in Nevada are currently receiving the Millennium Scholarship.

One student, an undocumented immigrant who preferred to remain anonymous, said he graduated with honors from the College of Southern Nevada and is currently attending UNLV with the Millennium Scholarship.

When asked how he managed to work the system, he said, "It's been hard, but it's been possible."

He came to Las Vegas when he was 11 and started school in the eighth grade.

"I think that the reason why many immigrants come here to the U.S. is economic displacement after the free trade agreement in the early 1990s," the student said. "I think that the U.S. needs to admit this and start treating us for what we are. We are economic refugees."

In response to Cobb's bill, the student compared it to the ban on education of African-Americans during slavery.

"They want to maintain us in a working class position," he said. "They don't want us to become educated so that we don't become critical of the situation."

He continued, "We're not here for a vacation or for a free ride. We're paying taxes. We're building this country. I dare anybody to [say] that none of the casinos here in Nevada have been built by the hands of immigrants."

Another undocumented student, who also preferred to remain anonymous, is going into her senior year at Valley High School.

"I'm wondering if I still can go to UNLV," she said. She doesn't have a Social Security Number, which makes her ineligible for student loans and many scholarships.

Although she knows she can obtain one illegally, she says, "I would like to do the right thing."

She has been in Las Vegas since she was 10 and has the GPA to get the Millennium Scholarship. She says she wants to study international business and cuisine and has been taking three years of French.

After hearing about Cobb's bill she said, "It brought me down. If they remove it, it's really going to affect us a lot. That's the biggest help we get."

State Treasurer Kate Marshall said she is prohibited from commenting on policy by the General Attorney but that the State Treasury does not keep information on the citizenship status of Millennium Scholarship recipients.

Neither does UNLV.

Dave Tonelli, UNLV's director of public affairs, said in an email: "UNLV has no internal information or information from the Nevada System of Higher Education regarding how much money may or may not be spent on undocumented Millennium Scholarship recipients...There is no policy on undocumented students. UNLV does not track immigration status. However, the UNLV Financial Aid & Scholarships Office has procedures in place to ensure funds are allocated to those who qualify across all financial aid programs."

NHSE procedures and Guidelines Manual for the Millennium Scholarship states that "if a student who is not a U.S. citizen... attends a Nevada high school for at least two years, s/he is eligible if all other Millennium Scholarship requirements are met."

Currently, eligibility for the Millennium Scholarship requires that the student attend at least two years of high school in Nevada and graduate with at least a 3.0 GPA.
http://www.unlvrebelyell.com/article.php?ID=12172

What about the AMERICAN kids...we are just as poor.....I remember I could not get aid for my daughter for College...she and I together did not have 2 nickels to rub together....but we had the wrong last name ( and she was blond)...so she didn't qualify....