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Colleges ban illegal immigrants
Opponents: Students shouldn't be punished under law

By Jill Coley
The Post and Courier
Sunday, February 15, 2009

MYRTLE BEACH — Dayana Rodrigues carries a bucket of cleaning solutions and a vacuum with her to work. She used to clean houses to pay for college. Now, she is a career maid who speaks three languages.

Rodrigues, 20, graduated in the top 5 percent of her high school class in 2007 and completed nursing prerequisites at Horry-Georgetown Technical College — all As and one B.

In January, the college refused to re-enroll the returning student because she is an undocumented immigrant. "You know it's not personal," she said. "But it is."

The South Carolina Illegal Immigration Reform Act became law in June and, among other measures, banned illegal immigrants from attending colleges and universities that receive state money.

Supporters of the ban feel strongly that taxpayers' money should not fund a school that is educating lawbreakers. They also worry that illegal immigrants could take up spots in colleges that might otherwise go to legal residents.

Opponents said it's unfair to punish children for their parents' crimes.

South Carolina is the first to legalize such a ban, although other Southern states have restrictive policies. For instance, North Carolina and Alabama bar undocumented people from attending community colleges.

At least nine states, mainly clustered on the West Coast, have moved in the opposite direction and allow in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. No federal law regulates this issue.

Prior to the law, Horry-Georgetown had an open admission policy. George Swindoll, assistant vice president for enrollment, estimated the technical college has lost $50,000 in tuition revenue this semester because of the new law. Undocumented immigrants paid out of state tuition prior to the new law and cannot qualify for federal assistance.

Two sides

Rodrigues' parents brought her to the U.S. when she was a teenager. "It's not like we choose to do it this way," she said. A native Portuguese speaker, she learned Spanish and English.

In defense of the legislation, Gov. Mark Sanford said: "You got to draw a line in the sand somewhere and that is, are you an illegal immigrant or are you a legal immigrant? There are certain rights and privileges that seem to me would go with being a legalized citizen versus not. To me, the age of the young person is less in question than the legality of their citizenship."

People ask Rodrigues why she doesn't just get her proper papers. "Show me the papers," she said. "I will gladly sign them."

U.S. Immigration Services does not allow people from many countries a legal pathway to enter and stay permanently unless they have an immediate family member who is here legally or an employer to sponsor them.

As a taxpayer and a citizen, Summerville resident Rosemarie Schwarz agrees with the ban. "We don't need to be competing here with people who are breaking the law," she said.

Schwarz empathized with the plight of a student who is educated through high school and then shut out. But she argues they should never be allowed to get that far, disagreeing with the federal precedent that guarantees primary education regardless of citizenship.

"It's not something we owe to people because they risked their lives to be here," she said.

What's next?

In the Charleston County School District, the largest concentration of Hispanic students — a category that does not reflect citizenship — is at the elementary and middle school levels. Overall, the district has 2,317 Hispanic students, constituting about 5 percent of the student population.

Whether the ban will become an issue for high school students remains to be seen, a district spokesman said.

At Myrtle Beach High School, the law had immediate repercussions.

Peggy Ryals, who teaches English as a second language, said, "I can't say to students anymore, 'Stay in school. You can be a chef. You can be a psychologist.' "

Marcia Zug, an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, said the law is popular among South Carolinians and likely would hold up under legal challenges. She and a co-author addressed the issue in an article that will appear in the Charleston Law Review this spring.

They pointed out that students will not be able to use their education to work legally in the U.S. If Rodrigues completed her nursing degree, she would not be able to receive a license legally.

Zug points to the federal DREAM Act, introduced in 2005, as counterpoint. The act, which has failed to win congressional approval, would open a path to citizenship for people 16 or younger when they entered the country and who entered five years before the act's passage. After earning an associate degree or serving two years in the military, a person could get conditional residency. And after the six years, and a demonstration of good moral character, the person would be able to apply for citizenship.

"The students didn't make the decision to be here. Parents brought them here," Zug said. "We don't blame children for the crimes of their parents."

Institutions across the state are grappling with how to enact the ban. Horry-Georgetown barred new students who are in the country illegally from enrolling in the fall and extended the ban to returning students this spring. For a while, the college would not release transcripts to undocumented students.

How to verify students remains the largest sticking point for institutions. The S.C. Commission on Higher Education is working to secure a citizenship test through the S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles, which has verified status since 2002.

Whatever means is settled upon, checking what current and potential students wrote in their applications costs money, College of Charleston Admissions Dean Don Burkardsaid.

"The mechanics are still being set up," Burkard said. "We've been able to verify about 50 percent of our students."

Rodrigues said the sting of that January day when she was turned away is fading. She is deferring her dream. "If they want me (in college), I'll go. If not, I'll go on with my life and see how it goes," she said. "I'm just numb at this point."

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