Thread: TN: In-state Tuition Bill Closer to Passage, but now Applies to Fewer Undocumented

Please use the links, names, and contact info in the post below this article to contact TN Lawmakers to tell them to oppose in-state tuition for illegals by opposing Sen. Todd Gardenhire's illegal alien tuition bill (SB 612)! ( Click here for Committee Member contact info)

In-State Tuition Bill Closer to Passage, but Now Applies to Fewer Undocumented Students

April 8, 2015

by Andy Sher

NASHVILLE -- A bill allowing undocumented children to attend Tennessee public colleges at in-state tuition rates is now flying to the Senate floor after backers included a provision restricting applicants to students legally authorized to be in the U.S. under a 2012 federal program.

Senate Finance Committee members approved the bill, sponsored by Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, on a 7-3 vote.

The House companion bill passed the House Education Instruction and Programs Committee later on a voice vote with prominent opponents of illegal immigration backing the bill.
"It took me by surprise," Gardenhire later told reporters. The bill, which he has pushed for three years, "is about kids being able to step up the ladder and become productive citizens in our community," the senator said.

Gardenhire, who has a number of Hispanic residents in his Chattanooga-based district, has long maintained that children brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents shouldn't be punished for their parents' actions.

Several lawmakers say the deciding factor was the amendment restricting in-state tuition to students who are now lawfully in the U.S. under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Criteria for the program include the students having been under age 16 when they came to the U.S., having lived in the country continually for at least five years, graduation from a U.S. high school and no criminal record.

They also have to have come to the country before June 15, 2007, which appears to be addressing some lawmakers' concerns that in-state tuition could encourage more illegal immigrants to come to Tennessee.

Rep. Kent Calfee, R-Kingston, said that when he arrived at the Capitol on Monday he remained "dead set against" the bill. But he had a last-minute "epiphany."

"The fact that the parents are here under the radar just chills me to the bone, but that's no fault of the children," Calfee said. "I think that this is the right thing to do."

Rep. Rick Womick, R-Murfreesboro, has been a longtime opponent of illegal immigration and noted he, too, wasn't planning to support it.

But the outspoken conservative said he, too, changed his mind after hearing the testimony of Karla Chavez, an undocumented student who came to Nashville when she was 5 years old.
Chavez told the panel she didn't even know she was in the U.S. illegally until her junior year in high school when she began thinking about college. Her parents then informed her of her status.
Attending a state public college was difficult because out-of-state tuition was double, even triple the cost of in-state tuition, Chavez said.

Womick told the House education panel that while he thinks it's "unfair to those who come here through the legal process ... I look at these young men and women and this is not their fault."
"Who are we to say they cannot go on to college?" Womick asked.

Chavez said she was able to get a scholarship to Lipscomb University, a church-affiliated institution in Nashville. With the aid of two part-time jobs, she's able to make it. But students trying to attend a public college are in a quandary.

"I've seen a lot of my friends give up and quit" but now "a lot of students are seeing hope," Chavez said. "I'm really proud there are people who are able to make a bold move and make our dreams come true."

Affected students have been visiting with lawmakers in one-on-one visits, making their case.
Proponents of the bill say an estimated 25,000 children in Tennessee are undocumented.
Some 7,000 already have lawful status under the federal DACA program and an estimated 8,000 others are eligible to join.

Speaking with reporters later, Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, said the DACA provisions have him leaning toward voting yes on the measure.

"Before that amendment went on, I wasn't sure," Ramsey said, noting he is "75 percent" likely to support it now.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/l...-tuiti/297505/

Many Republican legislators have decided to stand with the Obama Administration against the voters of Tennessee. They offer support of Obama's DACA with "in state tuition". This hurts the state of Tennessee, its citizens and their families, and robs the taxpayers to support and expand illegal immigration.

As Texas considers undoing the damage from in-state tuition provided to those who are illegally present, Tennessee is considering moves in the opposite direction. What a contradiction to be one of the states suing the government and then pushing efforts to rewards DACA individuals with in-state tuition.

* The Senate Bill number is SB 612 *

Video from the TN Legislature - worth listening to the discussions and to the Senate Republicans - Attorney General's office present with comments(19 mins.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44VsUS1FOAc


Education Committee Members and Contact Information: Telephone, Email
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/com...education.html

Senator Delores Gresham - Chair (Republican)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/members/s26.html

Senator Reginald Tate - 1st Vice Chair (Democrat)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/members/s33.html

Senator Todd Gardenhire 2nd Vice Chair (Republican who Sponsored the bills for in state tuition for illegal aliens)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/members/s10.html

Senator Rusty Crowe (Republican) http://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/members/s3.html

Senator Steven Dickerson (Republican)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/members/s3.html

Senator Ferrell Hale (Republican)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/members/s18.html

Senator Joey Hensley (Republican)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/members/s28.html

Senator Brian Kelsey (Republican)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/members/s31.html

Senator Jim Tracy (Republican)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/members/s14.html



* The House Bill number is HB 675 *

Video from the TN House on in state tuition - praise from Democrat rep. (Johnnie Turner) for Republicans crossing over ("we shall overcome) and commenting that these individuals will be citizens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0MmOBo4j0k*

question that gets asked: what forms or documents would be required/allowed to say that you are lawfully present

Interesting that someone who represents the group that thwarts every attempt to stop illegal immigration, every attempt to tighten voter i.d. measures is the one at the podium answering the House members questions.

Education Committee Members and Contact Information: Telephone, Email
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/comm...education.html

Rep. Harry Brooks - Chair (Republican)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/h19.html

Rep. Deborah Moody - Vice Chair (Republican)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/h81.html

Rep. Kevin Brooks (Republican)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/h24.html

Rep. Kent Calfee (Republican - mentioned in article)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/h32.html

Rep. Jim Coley (Republican)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/h97.html

Rep. John DeBerry (Democrat)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/h90.html

Rep. Kevin Dunlap (Democrat)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/h43.html

Rep. Craig Fitzhugh (Democrat)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/h82.html

Rep/ Eddie Smith (Republican)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/h13.html

Rep. Johnnie Turner (Democrat)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/h85.html

Rep. Dawn White (Republican)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/h37.html

Rep. Mark White (Republican and sponsor of HB 675)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/h83.html

Rep. Rick Womick (Republican mentioned in article)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/h34.html
615- 741-2804

*Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey (Republican mentioned in article)

615.741.4524 or Toll-Free at 1- 800.449.8366 x14524

lt.gov.ron.ramsey@capitol.tn.gov

* Rep. Bo Watson (Republican)
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/members/s11.html
615-741-3227


Contact Information for All Senators of the Tennessee Legislature:
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/members/

Contact Information for All Representatives of the Tennessee Legislature:
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/

Supporters have mounted a vigorous campaign for in state tuition and more taxpayer dollars in Tennessee. It appears that the young people are getting a constant audience before Tennessee legislators to get what they desire. Phone calls, emails, personal visits and testimonies sway the hearts and minds according to these reports.

More legislators are forgetting the voters that they represent and have turned toward illegal aliens, as we have seen in Congress.

The efforts of the in state tuition backers are highlighted here, "Tuition Equality Day on the Hill."

http://www.tnimmigrant.org/education/2013/3/1/tuition-equality-now.html

http://www.tnimmigrant.org/educatorsforequality

It's a strange place that supports in-state tuition or any benefit or right for illegal aliens who aren't even supposed to be in our country let alone being granted equal "rights" and "benefits" to pursue high education and the nice jobs that follow to compete with the citizens who are entitled to both the educations and jobs that follow. How do fellow citizens justify selling out their own people and their futures to people who aren't even supposed to be in our country and are here in violation of US immigration law?

It's the most bizarre and peculiar stance I've encountered from public officials. Oh wait, I just remembered, they're on the take with the cartels behind this travesty of illegal immigration which of course, explains it all.

Please start posting a link to Tennessee state lawmaker contact info with an appeal for people to call to support or oppose these measures with each post like this please.

Today we are asking our national networks to focus in on the news section on their own.

Here is the alert with details...
http://www.alipac.us/f8/illegal-immi...sponse-318739/

It is our hope we can engage more activism targets simultaneously by building them up here in the news section instead of singularly engaging via email alert.

W

We need the bill number added to the top please...

Please use the links, names, and contact info in the post below this article to contact TN Lawmakers to tell them to oppose in-state tuition for illegals by opposing Sen. Todd Gardenhire's illegal alien tuition bill (SB 612)!
(Click here for Committee Member contact info)


W

Language of the Senate Bill
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/109/Bill/SB0612.pdf

Language of the House Bill 675
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/109/Bill/HB0675.pdf

Bill History - SB0612 by Gardenhire
http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/Bill...lNumber=SB0612

Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee
Refer to Senate Calendar Committee 4/7/2015

PASSED
Ayes............................7
Noes............................3
Present and not Voting....1

Senators voting aye were: Dickerson, Haile, Harper, McNally, Overbey, Stevens, Tate...7

Senators voting no were: Hensley, Ketron, Watson...3

Senators voting present and not voting were: Norris..1

Amendment SA0046
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/109/Amend/SA0046.pdf

Amendment SA00447
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/109/Amend/SA0047.pdf

Amendment SA0320
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/109/Amend/SA0320.pdf

Amendment SA0321
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/109/Amend/SA0321.pdf

Amendment HA0337
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/109/Amend/HA0337.pdf

(B) Obtained a GED or HiSET credential awarded by a state approved institution or organization ; *[does not have to be in Tennessee]

"the HiSET exam can be taken in multiple formats and multiple languages"
http://hiset.ets.org/test_takers/
http://hiset.ets.org/requirements/tn



Tennessee's equivalent of La Raza is the prevailing voice to explain to Tennessee lawmakers what DACA and in-state tuition means and requires. The Sponsor of the Bill in the House, Rep. Mark White asks the representative from the LaRaza equivalent to answer to the committee.

To Representative Rick Womick who says that it is "no fault of their own," it is no fault of the American people or Tennessee citizens and that is who he represents. It is their dollars who he is responsible to protect, their lives that he is to work to advance. There are Tennesseans who through no fault of their own have situations that merit empathy.

You get a social security number, a drivers license, a work permit and according to Democrat Rep. Johnnie Turner you will be citizens at some point.

Republicans helping the Democratic party in their drive for more voters and more illegal immigration.

Please use the links, names, and contact info in the post below this article to contact TN Lawmakers to tell them to oppose in-state tuition for illegals by opposing Sen. Todd Gardenhire's illegal alien tuition bill (SB 612)!
(Click here for Committee Member contact info)

We need more volunteers helping create these activism alerts out of article and more people engaging in the requested activism. Please post comments here to us with feedback and things you learn when you call!

W

This activism alert and article is being linked to in today's email alert going out to the nation found at...
http://www.alipac.us/f8/fight-illega...5/#post1459419

W

Tennessee Senator Dickerson's (he supports in-state tuition) office staffer stated that he "believed" that there had been more positive calls on the in-state tuition legislation going through committees. I question that because he was unsure of how the Senator voted on the bill. Our efforts to derail in-state tuition and all of the other magnets/handouts to illegal aliens must continue because they never cease lobbying in the offices and halls of our state legislatures as well as Congress. The well funded groups are there almost every day to get them to listen and to persuade. And they do the thank you followup calls and visits.

More Calls, Emails, Faxes are necessary, with important facts such as those from direct testimony in Congress that refutes much of what is spread as the truth about DACA and in-state tuition.

The news story from the Times Free Press at the beginning of this thread states that these "undocumented" have no criminal record. That is untrue. Even the front group for the illegal aliens which spoke before lawmakers acknowledged the fact that these individuals, though referred to as lawfully present, could have misdemeanor criminal backgrounds. The following information from immigration testimony provided to Congressional lawmakers at a recent oversight hearing illuminates more about the lack of scrutiny and the loopholes associated with DACA.


MAR 13 2015

SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS FROM THE IMMIGRATION SUBCOMMITTEE’S USCIS OVERSIGHT HEARING

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, released a summary of key findings today following the recent oversight hearing with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials. The witnesses were USCIS Chief Financial Officer Joseph Moore, Service Center Operations Associate Director Donald Neufeld, and Field Operations Associate Director Dan Renaud. Key findings document follows:

USCIS Confirmed That, Contrary To The President’s Assertions, The Administration’s Executive Amnesty Programs Provide A Pathway To Citizenship For Illegal Immigrants

• USCIS admitted that an illegal immigrant who receives executive amnesty and subsequently receives “advance parole”—which allows illegal immigrants to re-enter the U.S. after traveling abroad—would be eligible to “adjust” to lawful permanent resident status (i.e., obtain a green card), and be able to apply for U.S. citizenship five years after that, as long as they meet certain criteria.
• 
  
  • Director of Service Center Operations Donald Neufeld explained that “to apply for adjustment of [immigration] status… you have to have been inspected and admitted or paroled. And so someone who had received advance parole, departed and was paroled back then they would satisfy that requirement and be eligible if they had the… basis for adjustment… Once you have a green card, typically if you have five years of residency, then you’re eligible to apply for citizenship.”
  • Under current law, an illegal immigrant is barred from obtaining lawful status unless he leaves the country for a statutorily required amount of time (i.e., three or ten years). However, if, as Mr. Neufeld explained, he obtains parole, he can obtain lawful status if he has a relative or employer who will petition on his behalf for a green card—the precursor to U.S. citizenship. Mr. Renaud confirmed that such a person “would be able to adjust status in the United States if they were here on parole.”

• Although the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) restricts parole to situations involving “urgent humanitarian reasons or [a] significant public benefit,” the instructions for USCIS’s Form I-131, “Application for Travel Document,” states that advance parole may be granted for “semester abroad programs or academic research,” and “overseas assignments, interviews, conferences, training, or meetings with clients.” The USCIS witnesses agreed that the INA does not set forth these situations as grounds for parole.

• In a February 13, 2015, letter to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte noted that, according to USCIS, “in the first two years of DACA implementation, over 6,400 DACA recipients requested advance parole. And out of the 4,566 cases decided by that time, only 566 had been denied. That is an advance parole grant rate of 88%.”

• Immigration advocacy groups and immigration benefits law practices are fully aware of this loophole.

• In a February 12, 2015, USCIS “Congressional Update and Teleconference” regarding the expanded DACA program, USCIS announced that DACA applicants will now be able to file applications for advance parole at the same time they file for DACA.

USCIS Confirmed That The Administration’s Executive Amnesty Sets A Lower Scrutiny Bar For Unlawful Aliens Than Lawful Aliens

• Contrary to what USCIS publicly states about the DACA program, the USCIS witnesses stated unequivocally that USCIS charges no fee for a DACA application(Form I-821D).
  
  • Indeed, USCIS Chief Financial Officer Joseph Moore agreed with Senator Cruz that there is “not a special fee for DACA and DAPA [Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents].”
    
    • The only fees paid by DACA applicants are the $85 biometrics (fingerprints and photograph) processing fee and $380 employment authorization document (EAD) fee.
    • In addition, in his February 26, 2015, letter to Chairman Grassley and Chairman Sessions, USCIS Director Leon Rodriguez wrote that “no fee is currently charged for a request for DACA (Form I-821D).”
    • Thus, no fee at all is being collected to directly recover the cost of adjudicating the DACA application.

• Not only do lawful immigrants and lawful temporary workers pay both the EAD and biometrics fees, where required, but unlike DACA (and DAPA) applicants, such lawful applicants for immigration benefits must also pay an additionalfee to cover the cost of adjudicating the specific application or petition for the immigration benefit for which they are applying. For example:
  
  • Reading from USCIS’ fee schedule, Senator Cruz pointed out that an Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (I-140) costs $580, an Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur (I-526) costs $1,500, and an application for a Regional Center under the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program (I-924) costs $6,230.
  • After the witnesses confirmed that DACA applicants pay no special fee for the DACA application, Senator Cruz replied: “I… cannot think of any other fee program, any rational fee program that allows those who break the law to be exempt from paying a fee. But if someone is foolish enough to actually try to comply with our immigration laws to wait at home to wait in line for years, sometimes decades, we smacked them with a fee of $1,500 or $6,200, but those who are here illegally pay nothing. That strikes me as a program that is indefensible to the American people.”
  • In his February 26, 2015, letter, Director Rodriguez wrote that “almost all fee paying customers are, to some extent, subsidizing the costs of services provided to those for whom a fee is not charged or is not set at a level enabling the recovery of costs incurred for services provided.”

• Senator Sessions pointed out that even the “Gang of Eight bill had a $1,000 fine or penalty” for illegal immigrants applying for amnesty.
• USCIS Revealed That The Administration Does Not Know The Cost Of DACA

Mr. Moore testified that USCIS does “cost accounting that allows [USCIS] to identify the actual costs associated with providing that specific service” and that USCIS “calculate[s] [its] fees based upon the level of effort [that] is required to review and process each form type.”

• However, in his February 26, 2015, letter, Director Rodriguez wrote that “[t]he specific costs that USCIS is able to discretely track within its financial management system related to DACA do not include a share of USCIS overhead costs such as management and oversight, customer service, etc… [A]lmost all fee paying customers are, to some extent, subsidizing the costs of services provided to those for whom a fee is not charged or is not set at a level enabling the recovery of costs incurred for services provided.”

• Mr. Moore confirmed that USCIS internal cost estimates for DAPA are between $324 and $484 million. When asked whether USCIS had considered the cost of the expanded executive amnesty to state and local governments, Mr. Moore testified that the agency “did not specifically address that issue as part of [its] planning.”

USCIS Does Not And Will Not Conduct Full Background Checks On Applicants For The Administration’s Executive Amnesty Programs

• The witnesses testified that for “status granting” immigration benefits, such as “naturalization applications and adjustment of status,” USCIS conducts complete background checks.

• However, for “non-status granting” benefits, such as DACA, USCIS does not conduct the same thorough background checks.
  
  • Mr. Renaud testified that “[DACA] requesters do not undergo, typically, an FBI name check” and that DAPA applicants would not undergo screening through the FBI Name Check program.
  • In a December 21, 2006, USCIS Interoffice Memorandum, the Associate Director for Domestic Operations wrote that the FBI Name Check program has “proven to be an effective tool in the identification of potential threats to our national security and in providing other relevant information that may affect the eligibility of an applicant for a benefit.”

• Mr. Renaud agreed with Senator Sessions that participation in the “FBI fingerprint system is not mandatory, so, those fingerprint checks do not contain records from every jurisdiction,” and therefore, a USCIS background check may not reflect a DACA applicant’s actual criminal history.

• Senator Sessions noted that, on March 2, 2015, The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing issued an interim report, which stated that the Department of Justice “should remove civil immigration information from the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database.” When asked whether such information is helpful to USCIS, Mr. Renaud replied, “that information is important to have in the adjudication.”

USCIS Does Not Require Face-To-Face Interviews for Executive Amnesty Applicants

• Mr. Renaud testified that “in a typical year, [USCIS] field operations adjust the status of over half a million individuals to permanent residence… USCIS officers in the field conduct in person interviews with these applicants in 83 offices around the country. Similarly, individuals seeking citizenship to the naturalization process must appear in person before a USCIS officer who conducts an examination of the applicant’s case and all available evidence and background security checks.”

• For DACA applicants, however, Mr. Renaud testified that “typically, [USCIS] does not conduct in person interviews” and USICS has no plans to interview DAPA applicants.

• Kenneth Palinkas, President of the National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council, has repeatedly attested to the importance of in-person interviews. Most recently, Mr. Palinkas supplied a Declarationin the states’ case challenging the President’s executive amnesty that “[a]n interview is one of the most important tools in an officer’s toolbox because it is one of the most effective ways to detect fraud and to identify national-security threats.”

• Senator Sessions quoted Mr. Palinkas, and added that “after 9/11, Congress required in-person interviews for all visa applicants except those 14 and older or younger and older than 79, precisely because the 9/11 commission felt that national security risks that are associated with lack of in-person interviews.”

USCIS Would Not Commit To Deny Criminal Aliens’ Applications For The Administration’s Amnesty Programs

• When Senator Cornyn asked the witnesses whether USCIS would commit to denying applications for deferred action for aliens with convictions for possession of child pornography, child abuse, assault, abduction, false imprisonment, voter fraud, larceny, robbery, harassment, theft, reckless driving, and distribution of alcohol to minors, none said yes.

• The witnesses also would not answer whether USCIS has ever granted any applications for deferred action for aliens with such convictions.

• In addition, Mr. Neufeld testified that USCIS “typically would not refer cases to ICE” if evidence indicates that an applicant committed certain crimes related to the alien’s lack of lawful status—such as the use of a Social Security number that did not belong to the alien.

USCIS Confirmed That The Agency Could Not Handle A Surge Of Executive Amnesty Applications

• Mr. Neufeld testified that with its DACA amnesty program in 2012, “there [was] an initial impact when there is a surge that you can’t really prepare for.” Subsequently, Mr. Neufeld indicated that USCIS “did then begin the hiring process to acquire that additional resources that [the agency] needed to not only deal with the surge that we had experienced, but also with the backlogs that had developed by redirecting some resources.”

• According to the witnesses, prior to the federal court injunction, USCIS had planned to hire up to 1,000 new employees to handle the processing of executive amnesty applications at the Crystal City facility.
  
  • Of those employees, USCIS intended to hire 400 new adjudicators. The witnesses indicated that “[t]here’s generally been two and four weeks of training, mentoring and coaching that go on and then they are considered fully trained or certified. And that was the plan that we would have implemented in the center in Crystal City.”
  • The witnesses admitted “that would have represented a surge in [the agency’s] training demand” compared to an average year.
  • Mr. Renaud testified that the agency “would have been in a better place were [it] able to use seasoned experienced adjudicators,” rather than having to rely on new hires.

• The witnesses testified that the applications would be paper-based, that USCIS would accept copies of documents to determine whether an applicant met the requirements for the amnesty programs, and that the agency will ask for original documents only if there are questions about the authenticity of the documents.
  
  • According to the witnesses, in some situations, USCIS will accept an affidavit to support information pertaining to that applicant’s time in the U.S., with Mr. Neufeld indicating that an “affidavit would be accepted to explain a reason for a departure within the time period in which [the alien is] required to have continuous physical presence.”
  • Mr. Renaud conceded, however, that USCIS generally does not have the resources to independently investigate the claims made in the paper-based applications.

• The witnesses claimed that the agency could still root out fraud in amnesty applications through use of its individual adjudicators’ training and experience—even though those adjudicators would be new employees with minimal training and experience.
• http://www.sessions.senate.gov/publi...rsight-hearing