OPINION
ILLEGAL STUDENTS
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JOURNAL EDITORIAL STAFF

Published: July 30, 2008



The State Board of Community Colleges faces a politically charged decision when it meets again in mid-August.

It can bend to the misinformed opinions of the anti-immigrant forces in North Carolina politics, or it can decide to fulfill its mission to educate those who live here.

Let's hope that the board has the courage to re-institute what had been state policy. It should once again allow open admissions to anyone with the academic background to pursue training at the 58 schools.

Earlier this year, the board stopped admitting illegal immigrants. Previously, the system had followed the lead of most other community and junior colleges in the country by not verifying the immigration status of those who sought to enter its programs. That job should belong to the national immigration service, not to local community colleges.

Attorney General Roy Cooper started the controversy when he ruled that illegal immigrants should not be allowed to matriculate at the colleges. Now he has reversed his finding. Turns out that the federal government itself said that the state was not violating immigration law by allowing illegal immigrants to study here.

Those who oppose the enrollment of these immigrants in our community colleges make two bogus arguments: That these people occupy seats and deny enrollment opportunities to North Carolinians, and that the illegal immigrants study with subsidies from state taxpayers.

There has been no evidence presented that illegal immigrants are denying class space to North Carolinians. Each year, 300,000 North Carolinians take advantage of the system's courses, and only about 100 illegal immigrants do so.

As for tuition and fees, these immigrants pay at out-of-state rates. Unlike the university system, the community college system charges out-of-staters more than the full cost of their education. So, the system is making a small profit from these students.

Most of the students involved are young people who came here with their parents. They had no choice in the matter. Most of them graduated from North Carolina public schools. Many of them have no memories of their supposed home country. To them, North Carolina is home.

The federal government must solve the overall immigration problem. Young people who have lived by the rules, who have pursued an education and lived a great portion of their lives here should be allowed to remain here legally. The education they receive in our community-college system should be considered a major asset as they apply to do so.

Let's hope that the board remembers that its job is to educate the people who live here. It should reinstate the previous open-door policy.



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