Thread: GA: State's immigration law makes college enrollment harder

State's immigration law makes college enrollment harder for illegal immigrants

By BRIAN FEAGANS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/07/07
Blanca's shift at the carpet mill was always made easier by her other job: college student. Even as she cut carpet, the Dalton High grad could envision handling a microscope in a forensic crime lab.

But that day looks more distant now for Blanca, 19, who has dropped out of Dalton State College one year into a criminal justice major. Blanca, whose parents brought her into the country illegally from Mexico City when she was 8 years old, is among the dozens of illegal immigrants who have dropped out of college or enrolled part-time this semester because they no longer qualify for in-state tuition in Georgia.

"I can't do what I really want to do," said Blanca, who asked that her last name be withheld because of the stigma that comes with being an illegal immigrant. "There's a wall there I can't tear down."

Up until July, university presidents in Georgia could grant out-of-state tuition "waivers" to students in the country illegally, allowing them to pay in-state rates. But Georgia's new immigration statute directed the Board of Regents to make sure they were in compliance with all federal laws. And the regents' attorney concluded that lower tuition constitutes a benefit barred for illegal immigrants, even if they went to high school in Georgia.

Exactly how many students have been affected by Georgia's new policy remains unclear. The university system doesn't track students based on immigration status.

But at Dalton State, at least 19 illegal immigrants have dropped out and 21 have scaled back to part-time, said President James Burran, who has traditionally given waivers to 40 students who entered the country illegally. He reasoned that they had become part of the fabric of the northwest Georgia community whose carpet mills have relied on cheap labor coming from Latin America.

"We're obligated to follow the law and the policies of the Board of Regents," Burran said, "so that's what we're doing."

The issue has deeply divided states, with 10 allowing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants and others rejecting the idea. One side says continuing to educate some of Georgia's best and brightest only makes sense as federal lawmakers try to overhaul an immigration system that everyone agrees is broken. Others counter that it makes no sense to subsidize the education of students who can't work legally in the state anyway.

Dalton State sophomore Jan Gonzales said it's also not fair to make U.S. citizens like her pay more than anyone here illegally. Gonzales, who moved into Georgia last year, was charged the out-of-state rate normally assessed to newcomers during their first year. But when she found out some illegal immigrants were paying roughly a quarter what she was, Gonzales threatened to sue.

After an attorney contacted the state on her behalf, Gonzales was reimbursed the $2,500 difference between the out-of-state ($3,500) and in-state ($1,000) rates. "I personally don't mind if they're going here," Gonzales said. "As long as I'm treated equally, I'm happy."

While Georgia's policy shift has been felt most at smaller schools, students at the state's higher-profile universities also are feeling the pinch, said Imelda Hernandez Cruz, executive director of the Celia & Marcos Scholarship Fund.

The fund gives $6,000 scholarships to students without legal residency, but that money is no longer enough to keep many in school full-time. A few have transferred from four-year institutions such as Georgia State to cheaper two-year such as Georgia Perimeter College, Hernandez Cruz said. At least six students have had to scale back to one class, Cruz said.

"They all want to finish school one way or another," she said, "even if it means taking one class at a time."

Marco, a former Cross Keys High valedictorian whose GPA is nearly 4.0 at Georgia Tech, thought his engineering dreams would be derailed, too, with tuition quadrupling to more than $20,000. But an anonymous benefactor has stepped forward to help Marco, whose story was featured in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in May. The man is paying for two other students' educations as well, Hernandez Cruz said.

Back in Dalton, no deep-pocketed donors have surfaced, said Javier Lara, executive director of the Latin American Community Alliance. So Sunday, volunteers with the nonprofit will join students and their families in asking the community for help. They plan to run masking tape down five blocks of downtown Dalton, and ask passersby to donate their quarters. The fund-raiser is called "Cora-ton," a play off "cora," Spanish slang for "quarter."

The idea is to let the community know that students want to continue their educations, even if it means taking classes in smaller chunks, one quarter at time.

Blanca said she wants to join them, but isn't sure she'll be able. She's taken a second job and is now working 80 hours a week to save for college.

www.ajc.com

There are citizens of this nation, as well as others that legally reside in this country, that have to pay these out of state costs. There is no justification, none, to allow those that are in our country illegally a break, much less a break they get only because they have an illegal immigration status. Our country does not have money to spare for college educations for citizens and those here legally, those here illegally should be put at the back of the line. They should be behind the others that are denied funding because of a criminal history even, because at least the others are here legally.



Blanca should check on a online degree from Mexico, the university there does have them. She could also be eligible for a free education in Mexico as a citizen. So she is wasting our money as well as a limited position in our college system.