Thread: N.C.: Undocumented college students' futures remain uncertai

Undocumented college students' futures remain uncertain

State Board of Community Colleges reviews admission policies
August 24, 2008 - 12:30AM
Chris Lavender
Staff Writer

Lenoir Community College will continue to enforce the state's mandate to restrict the admission of undocumented or illegal immigrants while the State Board of Community Colleges reviews its admission policies.

The State Board of Community Colleges announced last week that it would hire an independent consultant to study issues surrounding the admission of undocumented students into the North Carolina Community College System.

LCC President Dr. Brantley Briley said Friday that the state's community colleges were founded on an open door philosophy. LCC's fall registration ended Friday with 2,992 students enrolled in classes.

According to Briley, no undocumented or illegal immigrants enrolled at LCC this semester. LCC spokeswoman Richy Huneycutt said one undocumented student - who enrolled during a previous semester when it was still legal for undocumented students to register - will continue studying at LCC this fall.

"People interpret the law differently," Briley said. "If we have immigrants wanting to attend community colleges, I'd rather let them in so we can have an educated population."

On May 6, the N.C. Office of the Attorney General advised the N.C. Community College System office that restricting the admission of illegal immigrants "would more likely withstand judicial scrutiny."

On Aug. 15, the State Board of Community Colleges directed the N.C. Community College system to continue to ban undocumented or illegal immigrants from admission.

"The vast majority of North Carolina's legal citizenry do not want illegal aliens in the limited seats of our colleges," Americans for Legal Immigration chairman William Green said in a press release. "We are happy the board upheld the ban."

Green said he knows why the board performed the action.

"We also recognize this decision was a campaign maneuver by the Perdue campaign," Green said.

Democratic Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, who is running for the office of governor, is a member of the State Board of Community Colleges. The board approved Perdue's motion to adhere to the current practice of restricting the enrollment of undocumented students while the study is underway.

"We don't need a study," Green said. "That's ridiculous."

The comprehensive study will examine other states' undocumented students admission standards, methods used to identify lawful residents and undocumented students and under what conditions undocumented students are allowed to attend systems of higher education.

"This is an important issue for our colleges and our students and given that authority our State Board needs the opportunity to review and discuss these findings with the care and thoroughness they deserve," N.C. Community College System President Dr. Scott Ralls said in a press release. "The System Office staff will work with the State Board to evaluate appropriate and timely action so our 58 community colleges have the information they need to educate students and prepare the workforce."

Juvencio Peralta, Association of Mexicans in North Carolina chairman, said Friday he supports the new study. Peralta hopes the undocumented student debate will be resolved soon.

"The policy has changed three or four times," he said. "We need to have a policy like UNC, which is an open door policy regardless of the status of an individual."

Last November, the N.C. Community College System said the state's 58 community colleges could not bar students from enrollment based on their immigration status. Undocumented students were asked to pay out-of-state tuition under the new policy. The policy was later reversed.

On July 24, the N.C. Community College System received a letter from the N.C. Attorney General's Office that stated federal law does not bar admission of undocumented workers and the state has the authority to establish admission standards.

According to the letter, "states must decide for themselves whether or not to admit illegal aliens into their public post-secondary institutions."

Peralta said everyone should have access to the state's community college system. North Carolina's immigrants - including the Mexican and Latino populations - will play a pivotal role in the state's economic success, he said.

"We need to have an educated workforce," Peralta said. "Policymakers need to implement laws to sustain the population. The federal government needs immigration reform to address the issue."

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College educated illegal aliens will send larger remittances back to their country of origin and will work for amnesty so they can vote for their home country's agenda rather than the best interests of the United States.

The question is, who is going to hire college educated illegals? They could opt to return home to help their native country tho.

It is against the laws to admit Illegals to College . They have NO school visa and no right to even be on American soil . But i beleive it all boils down to money . just last week i had a long discussion with the Super of Admissions of our local Community College .Central Florida Community College . They do let Illegals in but they must pay out of state tuition. Which is very high for little gain . I thanked them for getting half of it right . Best part was the Super fully understood my concerns for Citizens first verus law-breakers .
Now if NC would make it "Out of State Fees Only". That would be a good start till the laws can be rewritten for Citizens first and then visa's . I don't think they can afford out of state fees , but then again they want us to pay for them