No to open enrollment

Friday, August 15 (updated 3:06 am)

Community college leaders should have stuck to their policy barring illegal immigrants from enrolling in degree programs. Instead, meeting Thursday, they called for a study of the issue but in the meantime agreed to allow open enrollment.

"This study will be critical to our working out a reasoned policy on this hot-potato issue," State Board of Community Colleges member Stuart Fountain of Asheboro said.

Unfortunately, the board ignored a reasoned statement from member Beverly Perdue: "I'm against allowing illegal immigrants who can never work legally in North Carolina to attend community colleges in North Carolina."

No one else on the board wanted to handle the hot potato. Then again, no one else is running for governor.

Perdue, the Democratic lieutenant governor, has it right. While some argue that access to higher education affords better employment opportunities and promises to boost the state's economy, such thinking ignores the inconvenient fact that federal law prohibits hiring undocumented workers.

Community college leaders are fooling themselves if they expect a study to clear away that and other obstacles.

Perdue's opposition as governor would be formidable. The Republican candidate, Pat McCrory, also vows if he's elected to overturn an open-enrollment policy.

Furthermore, a North Carolina congresswoman, Republican Sue Myrick of Charlotte, announced Wednesday she'll introduce a bill to cut off federal funds for colleges and universities that knowingly admit illegal immigrants. Then there are more frequent crackdowns at companies that employ illegal immigrants. And, in Alamance County Wednesday, state troopers stopped a charter bus on its way to Mexico. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took into custody several people who weren't suspected of any other criminal behavior but were deemed not to be legal residents. Proceedings were initiated that could lead to deportation.

The climate is not conducive to leniency for illegal immigrants.

It's difficult to fault the intentions of leaders who want to open doors to students who, after all, are granted the benefit of a K-12 education and hope to better themselves through study at community colleges. But setting policies that conflict with the law isn't wise. The only way to proceed should be by legal means. Colleges and universities that want to admit noncitizens should help them secure student visas. When they graduate, those individuals should seek the necessary documents to gain legal employment.

Meanwhile, Congress should try again to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation that will better control our borders and employment issues but also provide a path for established immigrants who meet certain requirements to gain legal status - including the privilege of attending public colleges.

Those colleges should wait for a better time to welcome students who don't yet belong.
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