http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 22477.html

July 3, 2006, 11:09PM

HCC rally backs tuition breaks for illegal immigrants
Group protests efforts that would deny federal money for such programs
By ALLAN TURNER
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Standing in graduation caps and gowns with their mouths taped shut and their hands tied, 20 young people rallied at Houston Community College Monday to protest legislative efforts to cut tuition breaks for illegal immigrants attending Texas colleges.

"They are here with mouths taped and hands tied because that will be their future if HB 1403 is taken away," said Mike Espinoza, spokesman for the group calling itself Young Immigrants for a Better Future, as he gestured to the silent line of protesters standing in a light midday rain.

Texas House Bill 1403, authored by state Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, and passed in 2001, allows immigrant students who have lived with their parents or guardians, spent three years in Texas and either graduated from high school or obtained an equivalent diploma in the state to pay lower, in-state college tuitions.

Espinoza, a University of Houston sociology graduate student, denounced efforts by U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, to keep Texas and nine other states from using money to assist students who are in the country illegally.

While HB 1403 was not aimed specifically at illegal immigrants, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board says some of those who have benefited are in the U.S. illegally. Texas and California were the first to extend tuition breaks to undocumented students.

Coordinating board figures show 212 students attended three University of Houston campuses under the program last fall. UH's tuition and fees for 15 hours of classes are $6,450 per year for in-state students and $12,326 per year for out-of-state students.

Culberson recently tacked an amendment onto an appropriations bill that would prohibit spending federal money on such a tuition-break program.

Culberson, who could not be reached for comment Monday, argued that HB 1403 broke the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which prohibits extending benefits to illegal immigrants that aren't available to all U.S. residents.

Coordinating board figures show that 5,300 students enrolled in institutions of higher learning in Texas under the program last fall. It was not known how many were in the country illegally.

One of them was a 20-year-old protester who identified himself only as Antonio.

One of three children of immigrant parents, he was 12 when he arrived in Houston. He now is a junior photography student who maintains a 3.25 grade-point average and hopes to enter medical school.

He works to pay tuition, receiving limited assistance from his parents.

"I wouldn't be able to afford to go to college," he said of the prospect of paying out-of-state tuition. "It's difficult enough to come up with the money for a semester now. It would be still harder."

"We're not cheating the government. This is something we earned," the student said. "We put in the efforts to get the grades. We came here as minors. We became what we are right here."

allan.turner@chron.com