Thread: In-state tuition dangles in reach of illegal immigrants

Posted: 03/01/2009 12:30:00 AM MST
Updated: 03/01/2009 01:59:40 AM MST


A bill to allow illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state college tuition may have the best chance of passing in years because of the support of some key Colorado Republican businessmen.

The latest effort, pushed by state Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, would allow illegal immigrants who have attended a Colorado high school for at least three years and graduated to get the in-state tuition rate at state colleges and universities, which would save the undocumented students thousands of dollars. The bill is scheduled to get its first committee hearing Thursday.

A bill passed last year clarified that U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants are Colorado residents and thus eligible for in-state tuition. Romer's bill is aimed at foreign-born

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no
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children who enter the country illegally with their undocumented parents.
"For any student without a trust fund or a wealthy parent, out-of-state tuition is prohibitive," Romer said. "It's critical to have an educated workforce. Having uneducated children is in no one's interest."

Similar bills have been proposed before, but Romer said what's different this time is the public backing of some heavy-hitting Republicans in the business community.

Those include Dick Monfort, co-owner of the Colorado Rockies and chairman of the University of Northern Colorado Board of Trustees, which has endorsed the legislation. Alex Cranberg, chairman of Aspect Energy and a top GOP donor, also supports the bill.

"I think a lot of Republicans don't understand it," Monfort said of the bill. "They think it's costing the taxpayers money, and it's not.

"It's sort of hard to tell a kid, 'Work (hard), and then either go out of state or pay a fee you can't afford.' "

Cranberg said the concept was both fair and good for the state.

"It is wrong to place unnecessary barriers in the way of any person from being able to realize their potential," he said. "At the same time, it is common to see U.S. colleges subsidize tuition of foreign students to enrich their local students' experiences or draw talent."

Cranberg said those foreign students — documented or not — will be creating new jobs for Americans in the future.

"Undocumented parents pay many taxes," he said. "Even local students who have committed serious violent felonies are eligible for in-state tuition.

"Why should working without a work visa be treated as a worse crime for getting access to a college education?"

Romer's bill, which doesn't have a sponsor in the House, faces stiff opposition from groups seeking to curb illegal immigration.

Stan Weekes, state director of the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, which favors tougher restrictions on illegal immigration, said the bill is unfair to American students from other states who have to pay the higher tuition.

"Do we open it to my nephew in Nebraska to come in with the same in-state tuition?" Weekes said.

He said illegal immigrant students, even if they were brought to the state while still young children, are not Coloradans and should not get the resident tuition rate.

"They're not Coloradans because number one, they can't get an identification here. Their parents can't get an identification here. They're geographically challenged individuals."

Romer and other supporters of the legislation say it's heartless to punish immigrant children for what their parents did.

But Weekes said, "I don't believe it's punishment. It's an acceptance of reality."

Ten states, including Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah, have passed legislation to offer the in-state rate to undocumented students; 30 states have considered such legislation since 2001, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

This year, Colorado is among five states considering such a law.

Arkansas and Missouri are considering bills to prohibit illegal immigrants from getting in-state tuition.

In Kansas and Utah, officials have estimated that fewer than 200 undocumented students per year have used the in-state tuition rate.

Romer estimates 200 to 400 such students would come under such a law in Colorado.

One undocumented high school senior from Westminster who spoke to The Denver Post said attending the University of Colorado at Boulder would be impossible without the in-state tuition rate.

Sonia, 18, who asked that her last name be withheld, is an illegal immigrant from Mexico who entered the country with her parents when she was 3. Because she is not a legal resident of Colorado, she'd have to pay the out-of-state tuition rate, which is $23,580 a year. The in-state tuition rate is $5,418.

"They (undocumented students) are just asking for the same opportunity," she said. "They've been here for such a long time, and they haven't done anything wrong to anybody."

Sen. David Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, has been outspoken against in-state tuition for illegal immigrants and has said he will actively find out-of-state students to challenge the effort in court if it becomes law.

Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626 or thoover@denverpost.com

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Added to Home PAge
http://www.alipac.us/article4010.html

current poll results at article link from above

Post Poll - Tuition
Do you think all graduates from Colorado high schools should receive in-state tuition? (Read the related story.)

Total Votes = 2450

yes
45.10 %

no
50.53 %

I don't know
2.530 %

I don't care
1.836 %

Do you think all graduates from Colorado high schools should receive in-state tuition?
Total Votes = 2493
yes 45.04 %
no 50.54 %
I don't know 2.527 %
I don't care 1.885 %

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

current poll results at article link from above

Post Poll - Tuition
Do you think all graduates from Colorado high schools should receive in-state tuition? (Read the related story.)

Total Votes = 2450

yes
45.10 %

no
50.53 %

I don't know
2.530 %

I don't care
1.836 %

I'm not sure I completely agree with the way the DP asked this question. The question should be:

Do you think that those who graduate from a Colorado high school and are in this country legally should be given in-state tuition. Without this separation/distinction some might be inclined to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Or...they could have framed the question:

Do you believe that those who graduate from a Colorado high school, but who are not in this country legally should be given in-state tuition?

After all, isn't that really what's at debate here. It's not ALL students, it's just those students who graduate and are illegal.

Do you think all graduates from Colorado high schools should receive in-state tuition? (Read the related story.)
Total Votes = 3372
yes
48.66 %

no
46.50 %

I don't know
2.669 %

I don't care
2.164 %

Post Poll - Tuition
Do you think all graduates from Colorado high schools should receive in-state tuition? (Read the related story.)
Total Votes = 3410
yes
48.56 %
no
46.56 %
I don't know
2.668 %
I don't care
2.199 %

*****State Legislation on the Move******
Check out the "States" 2009 illegal immigration bills in Action.
Directions, Contact Information and much more.
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-147989.html
http://www.alipac.us/forum-24.html

Do you think all graduates from Colorado high schools should receive in-state tuition? (Read the related story.)
Total Votes = 3724
yes
50.13 %
no
45.22 %
I don't know
2.497 %
I don't care
2.148 %

Showdown looms over lower tuition proposal for illegal immigrants

Eli Stokols

March 3, 2009

DENVER -- A bill proposing to grant in-state tuition to all Colorado high school students, including illegal-immigrants is again generating heated debate as it heads towards a Thursday hearing before the Senate Education Committee.

"Nothing will break your heart faster than sitting down with a kid who's done everything right in a land of immigrants when all they're asking is for the right to go on," said Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, the sponsor of Senate Bill 170. "When kids have hopelessness, they do hopeless things. When they have hope, they do things that are right. We need to give these kids hope.

Romer, who has amended the bill to no longer include a provision using state dollars for financial aid, is trying to frame the debate over his bill outside of the ongoing debate over immigration reform.

"The debate on the table is the kids who came across the border at 3, 4, 5 years old who have fought to be American citizens," Romer said. "Right now, we're telling those kids that, even though they've done everything right, we can't help them go to college because we don't have a working immigration policy in this country. I can't think of a more inappropriate situation for us to let stand."

To be eligible for the reduced tuition, undocumented students would have to have graduated from a Colorado high school or received their GED within the past five years. They also must have been enrolled in a Colorado public or private high school for at least three years.

Federal law mandates that school districts educate all children, regardless of immigration status, from kindergarten through high school.

From there, those undocumented students struggle to go to college because many can't afford out-of-state tuition, which is $7,041. In-state tuition is $2,340, according to Romer.

Romer's argument may be more likely to succeed in these trying economic times. In fact, he's already touting support from Republican businessmen around the state, including Republican fundraiser Alex Cranberg, Dick Monfort, a Weld County cattleman and the owner of the Colorado Rockies, and Scott Erlich, a Greeley car salesman.

"These are people who see the daily consequences," Romer said. "There's no upside to having uneducated children."

But while Romer is touting the long-term economic benefits to the state of a more educated workforce, Republicans at the Capitol argue that the short-term economic crisis is the wrong time to be putting more of a burden on the state's higher education system.

"This is simply not the year to come forward adding students to the rolls who have not been there before, who Colorado is going to have to support," said Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, the ranking Republican on the Senate Education Committee.

Spence, who represents a conservative district, said she also has to be true to her constituents, a majority of whom take a rather hard-line on most immigration issues.

"The children of U.S. citizens who are not eligible for in-state tuition because they live in other states ought to go to the top of the line over students who are not now legally eligible for in-state tuition," said Spence.

http://www.kwgn.com/pages/news_local_la ... feedID=202

"Nothing will break your heart faster than sitting down with a kid who's done everything right in a land of immigrants when all they're asking is for the right to go on," said Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, the sponsor of Senate Bill 170. "When kids have hopelessness, they do hopeless things. When they have hope, they do things that are right. We need to give these kids hope.

There have and are AMERICAN kids who have done everything right (and whose parents have done everything right) and why aren't each and every one of them in college/going to college? Let's take care of our own citizens, eh?

A college education is NOT a "human rights" issue.