Thread: AR: In-state tuition for illegal immigrants bill may return

Pine Bluff Commercial

In-state tuition for illegal immigrants bill may return

By ANDREW DeMILLO

LITTLE ROCK - The sponsor of 2005 legislation that would have allowed Arkansas' colleges and universities to offer in-state tuition rates to the children of illegal immigrants said Friday she may bring the measure back before the Legislature next year.

Former Rep. Joyce Elliott, who unseated Sen. Irma Hunter Brown in Tuesday's Democratic primary for a Senate seat in Little Rock, said she'd bring the proposal back if she thinks it would pass both chambers. Elliott doesn't face a Republican opponent in November's election.

"It's something I would certainly like to see happen, but it would depend on the mood of the Legislature and whether it's something I think we can get through," Elliott said Friday. "There's so much anti sentiment it seems, even against children, but I certainly do hope we'd have the courage to do the right thing."

Jim Purcell, director of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, sent a letter Thursday telling colleges and universities they must ask potential students if they legally live in the country. The letter was sent after Gov. Mike Beebe's office acknowledged it did not know that admission procedures of the state's two largest schools could give illegal immigrants in-state tuition rates.

Elliott's original measure in 2005 would have allowed the schools to offer both college scholarships and in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants. The bill passed the House, but failed in the Senate despite the scholarship provision being removed.

Elliott said her legislation would have created a uniform policy, something she said Purcell's letter proved is lacking in the state. Both the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the University of Central Arkansas in Conway had offered students in-state tuition if they had official transcripts from a state high school.

Officials at both schools said applications had spaces for potential students to write in their Social Security numbers, but that officials processed the paperwork if the spaces were left blank.

"This was the very kind of thing I was trying to avoid where colleges would be in a mishmash of this policy and that policy," Elliott said Friday.

Elliott's proposal had also been championed by former Gov. Mike Huckabee, who she said had asked her to include the scholarship provision. Huckabee had been criticized for supporting the proposal during his unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

The bill failed after Beebe, then the state's attorney general, released a legal opinion that said offering illegal immigrants in-state tuition rates likely would violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Purcell made the same argument in the letter he sent Thursday.

Purcell wrote the letter after meeting with members of the governor's staff Thursday morning. The meeting was sparked by a story by The Associated Press about Beebe's stance against a ballot measure seeking to deny public benefits to illegal immigrants.

Elliott said if she did bring back the proposal, it would not include any provisions offering scholarships. She said she had "mixed feelings" about Beebe's argument that her proposal would cause equal protection problems.

"It is not illegal for students in Arkansas to go to school," Elliott said.

Elliott's proposal may be a moot point depending on the success of the ballot measure by a group called Secure Arkansas, which aims to eliminate in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants, as well as deny access to other benefits. The measure, if passed by voters in November, also would require those registering cars or conducting other forms of state business to sign an affidavit saying they live legally in the U.S.

Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said the governor would not comment on pending legislation without seeing the written bill, but added that his priority is to remain in compliance with federal law.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)

http://www.pbcommercial.com/articles/20 ... rfnm00.txt

if you are not allowed to be in the country, you're not allowed to be in Arkansas and if you are not allowed to be in Arkansas you are not allowed to be in that school. So you can't go to an Arkansas school if you are not allowed to be in teh country. QED (Quod Erat Demonstrandum). I am a show off.