Thread: L'maker abandons Effort 2 Get In-State Tuition Status (CO)

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Lawmaker Abandons Effort to Get In-StateTuition Status for Illegals
April 20, 2005
Bill Scanlon

A Hispanic legislator has given up on his attempt to get in- state college tuition status for illegal immigrants.

Rep. Val Vigil, D-Thornton, said he had plenty of backers in both parties but not enough clout for the measure to both pass the legislature and withstand a potential veto by Gov. Bill Owens.

And that's because not enough Hispanics vote, he said. Fewer than half the eligible Hispanics in Colorado voted for president in 2000, he said.

Vigil wants illegal immigrants who have gone to high school in Colorado for at least three years to qualify for the same in-state tuition as their classmates who are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants.

"It's frustrating," Vigil said after withdrawing his bill. "Participation by Hispanics in politics in Colorado is very low."

Vigil said he isn't talking about the illegal immigrants who aren't allowed to vote or Hispanics who have been here for several generations. He has in mind the thousands of people in Colorado who won amnesty in 1986 and won citizenship a few years later, but still by-and-large don't vote.

If more Hispanics were registered voters, Gov. Owens would have a tougher time vetoing the bill, Vigil said. As it is, "he won't even meet with me" to discuss a version of the bill he would consider signing.

But Vigil also said he would feel more comfortable urging his Democratic colleagues to back the bill if it had more demonstrable support among voters.

About half a million people from Mexico live in Colorado, according to the Mexican consulate. About half of them are here legally.

Members of the House appropriations committee pointed out that under Vigil's plan, the state would lose the difference between out- of-state and in-state tuition.

But Vigil argued that there may not be a single illegal immigrant of college age who can afford out-of-state tuition at a place such as the University of Colorado-Boulder, where the rate was $20,600 this year.

He said that if he could get his bill passed, about 20 illegal immigrants probably would have gone to college in the fall who otherwise wouldn't.

Rep. Val Vigil, D-Thornton, said he had plenty of backers in both parties but not enough clout for the measure to both pass the legislature and withstand a potential veto by Gov. Bill Owens.

And that's because not enough Hispanics vote, he said

That's all they're waiting for.......ENOUGH - a MAJORITY and any legislation they want will pass no matter what Americans desire.

I know that I'm not the only one here that has paid out of state tuition for a child. And those of you that have done so know that it can be quite a burden {happily accepted} for some of us. We never complained in our home and worked harder and longer to pay the exhorbitant dollars. We chose to go that route and felt it our responsibility to educate our boys in the best way possible. Never questioned just payed. We did without as I'm certain others here have done while friends chose in state to save money while they did this and that with the savings.

This tuition situation has my blood boiling.

Looks like Tom Tancredo is having a major influence in his home state. GOOD!

Yea! Mr. Tom Tancredo, I'm loving it!

I don't care that they cant afford college. They shouldn't be here in the first place. That is their fault, not the fault of American citizens. We should be clamping down on illegals, not rewarding them.

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YANKEE wrote:

I don't care that they cant afford college. They shouldn't be here in the first place. That is their fault, not the fault of American citizens. We should be clamping down on illegals, not rewarding them.

I'm sorry if my post sounded confusing. I'm in total agreement with you, Yankee. What I meant was that Americans have to pay out of state tuition if that's our choice---WE DON'T GET ANY BREAKS! And we don't lobby for special consideration. So, give a break to someone who's illegal while American children suffer?

Not until every single American Kid get a solid, QUALITY education should this idea even cross anyone's mind.