Thread: Other view: In-state tuition legislation conflicts with U.S.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/s ... 8637c.html

Other view: In-state tuition legislation conflicts with U.S. law
By Brian Bilbray -- Special To The Bee
Published 2:15 am PST Sunday, January 22, 2006
Brian Bilbray is on the national board of advisers for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and is a former member of the House of Representatives from San Diego County. He is responding to The Bee's editorial "In-state tuition / Don't kick around children of immigrants," which appeared Dec. 26.
In 1998, President Clinton signed into law U.S. Code 1623, which states that "an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence ... for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit ... . " In other words, you cannot extend a benefit to any illegal immigrant unless that same benefit is extended to all U.S. citizens.

In 2001, Gov. Gray Davis, facing an energy crisis, a $38 billion budget deficit and a tough re-election campaign, signed into law AB 540, which gave illegal aliens living in California resident status for tuition purposes at colleges and universities in direct violation of U.S. Code 1623. Similar legislation had been vetoed by the governor only a year before due in large part to the legislation's standing conflict with U.S. Code 1623.

Recently, 40 students, including my two children, from 19 states filed a lawsuit against California for adopting such a discriminatory policy. Some have raised questions about my participation in this action and I want to address a few of those issues.

First and contrary to media reports, my children attended public school.

Second, I've been an active participant in the illegal immigration issue for decades. In 1980, I was a part of the "Light up the Border" event. In 1996, I was a part of the majority who voted to pass HR 2202, which authorized major increases in Border Patrol forces. In 2000, I took a stand with my Republican colleagues to oppose an illegal alien amnesty of more than 2 million illegal aliens. That's not "jumping on the bandwagon"; that's leading the charge.

The lawsuit brought forward is about principles, not politics. Federal law on this issue is clear. We do not get to arbitrarily decide which laws we want to follow and which ones we want to ignore. AB 540 specifically stops legal nonresident aliens from receiving in-state tuition while rewarding those who deliberately break our immigration laws.

Some call this a political stunt. That's what was said about the people who participated in the civil rights movement. That's what was said about the citizens who fought discrimination. In the end, they were all considered patriots.

I only hope these students are successful in their lawsuit. If so, students charged out-of-state tuition in the few other states where illegals get in-state tuiton should stand in line to sue.