Revised policy ignores law for illegal workers

News & Record (Greensboro, NC)
September 23, 2009 Wednesday

Let's say someone who is in this country illegally enrolls in a state community college and gets a degree. Then what?

The contradiction in the State Board of Community Colleges policy approved last week that allows illegal immigrants to enroll in community colleges is that federal law prohibits employers from hiring undocumented workers.

And that's not about to change until Congress tackles the seemingly intractable issue of how to deal with the nation's undocumented population, which numbers in the millions.

Backers of the board's revision say it's wrong to keep in limbo young people trying to better themselves while politicians dither over reform. Many of these potential students, they point out, are Americans in every way - except under the law.

Some were brought here as infants or youngsters and have no ties to their parents' homeland. But that conveniently overlooks their illegal status.

As for their education, North Carolina, like other states, operates under a confusing patchwork of contradictory rules. Here, public schools - kindergarten through grade 12 - must educate all students, including illegal immigrants. The UNC system admits them if they've graduated from a U.S. high school and agree to pay higher out-of-state tuition.

But the constraints approved by the community college board appear to be so restrictive that few young people here illegally probably will sign up for classes on the system's 58 campuses anyway. When illegal immigrants were last permitted to enroll in state community colleges two years ago, the numbers were negligible - only 112 out of an estimated 200,000 took college-credit classes.

That isn't expected to change much, if at all, when the new policy takes effect no sooner than fall 2010.

Under the new rules, not only will tuition five times the in-state rate be assessed, but those accepted for study will be denied financial aid and won't be allowed to take classes leading to a skill that requires state licensing. Also, legal residents will have priority if class space is limited.

Under such tough restrictions, who would apply? Who could?

While no doubt well-intended, the board's policy rewrite comes off more as window-dressing than substance. As written, it won't affect many students and will have little impact on a recessionary job market.

Granted, some high school graduates here illegally may not now be able to reach their full potential. Even so, Congress first needs to pass comprehensive reform defining legal status - including paths to an education and ultimately a job.

* Even if people here illegally earn community college degrees, employers wouldn't be able to hire them legally, no matter how well-qualified they are.

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