Yes, we have these misplaced souls up here also.

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi- ... cleID=0258

New Jersey Legislature: www.njleg.state.nj.us/

New Jersey Immigration Policy Network. http://www.njipn.org/

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2.Asbury Park Press (NJ): Immigrant children should be treated as in-state students
BY PARTHA BANERJEE
Friday June 10, 2005

A few hundred college-bound students in New Jersey have been waiting for more than two years to get a bill passed in Trenton. The in-state tuition bill, when passed, would help these children of immigrants receive an affordable college education and avoid the exorbitant "out-of-state" fees imposed on them.

This is not a unique situation in New Jersey. Since 2001, nine states have passed laws permitting certain undocumented students who have attended and graduated from their high schools to pay the same tuition as their classmates at public colleges. It is only reasonable to expect that as the fifth-largest immigrant-population state, New Jersey follow their footsteps and enact the long-pending bill into law.

These Garden State immigrant students - much fewer in number than their counterparts in Texas, California or New York - deserve the in-state tuition fees for a number of reasons:

These children have been here for many years and they look, speak, think and act just like any other American kid. Most of them went to primary, middle or high schools just like other Jersey boys and girls. This is their home: New Jersey's "mainstream" American students have been their friends with whom they have sat in class, played baseball and soccer, and gone to the mall.

Unlike out-of-state "mainstream" students, these kids and their undocumented immigrant parents have always supported New Jersey's colleges and universities with sales, property and income taxes. They have contributed to our state and national economy, too. The New York Times reported that "the estimated 7 million or so illegal immigrant workers in the United States are now providing the system with a subsidy of as much as $7 billion a year." This is because the immigrant parents' employers are always withholding money from their paychecks - money the workers would never see - whether they labor in farms, construction sites, department stores or restaurants.

The "mainstream" out-of-state students could choose to pay less for college and attend schools in their home states, but they consciously decided to pay three or four times as much to attend schools out of state. These immigrant students do not have any such luxury or option. They know their admission into the state's public institutions is not a free ride: They would have to work hard to get in on a competitive basis. They also know they don't qualify for any federal or state loans or grants. In spite of all the obstacles, they want to go to college and get a degree.

Future social and economic benefits brought in by a generation of educated immigrant youth will far exceed the present education expenditure. On the other hand, an uneducated generation of young people with a broken dream would be driven into poverty, despair, loss of health, or even underground activities, with huge economic and political consequences.

We all know college education is expensive and American citizens have reason to be frustrated. We need to ask, however, is it the fault of the undocumented immigrants and their college-age children that America can't keep its education tab down? In other market-driven countries such as England or Australia, governments have taken long-term, pragmatic measures to prevent higher education costs from spiraling out of control. We haven't. It is those misplaced priorities that are responsible for our frustrations.

Unfortunately, anti-immigrant organizations and individuals are not shy about exploiting these misgivings. Since the tragedies of 9/11, it's been easy to scapegoat and penalize hard-working immigrants and their aspiring children who have nothing to do with terrorism. The addition of a few hundred resident students to our public colleges is not going to crash our markets. The anti-immigrant rhetoric that attempts to rob the immigrant children of their dream of college education is politically motivated. We should not be fooled by it.

New Jersey's lawmakers - traditionally known for their pro-people, equal-opportunity, affirmative-action stances - should pass the instate tuition bill on a fast track. This state should side with its American children of immigrant parents. We must give these innocent children a chance to succeed.

In a country that has championed its progress on human rights, civil rights and liberties, we can't afford to turn our backs on history and create a new era of bigotry and discrimination.

Partha Banerjee is executive director of the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network and a participant of the Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey.