Thread: TX-Should illegal immigrants receive in-state tuition?

Should illegal immigrants receive in-state tuition?

By Melissa B. Taboada
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, July 25, 2009

Texas attorney general says there's not enough precedent to know for sure.

Asked whether the state can continue to grant in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said in an opinion Friday that there's not enough legal precedent to answer the question with certainty.

Abbott said the sections of the Texas Education Code that permit illegal immigrants to pay resident tuition at state colleges and universities could conflict with federal law. But he added, "Given the paucity of judicial precedent, we cannot predict with certainty that a court would so find."

TX Attorney General opinion letter:

http://www.oag.state.tx.us/opinions/opi ... a-0732.htm

The opinion comes 10 months after a state representative pointed out that a California court found that state had violated federal laws by allowing undocumented immigrants to receive in-state tuition.

Under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, passed in 1996, states cannot grant a "post-secondary education benefit" to someone who is not lawfully present in the U.S. unless they provide the same benefit to residents of other states.

A California appellate court has ruled that the federal law pre-empts California law, meaning California would have to abandon the tuition practice, which is similar to that in Texas. The case is now before the California Supreme Court.

State Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, a longtime critic of illegal immigration, asked Abbott in September for an opinion on the issue.

In his opinion, Abbott said the terms "post-secondary education benefit" and "residence" are not defined in the federal law. He also said the state education code probably does not violate the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause.

"We certainly would have preferred that the attorney general would have issued an opinion concluding that the Texas law would not likely be pre-empted by federal law, instead of punting it and leaving that open for another day. But he didn't opine on the other side either, so it's acceptable to us," said David Hinojosa, staff attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

In California, colleges are still granting in-state tuition to undocumented students who meet in-state tuition laws, Hinojosa said.

Berman said he didn't understand Abbott's ruling until he said Abbott called him to explain it.

"He's saying he doesn't know what a court will do, but he did say if the courts follow the law, they would have to conclude that illegal aliens should not be getting in-state tuition in Texas," Berman said.

In response, the attorney general's office said in an e-mail, "As with all opinions, we do not elaborate on opinions (they speak for themselves). Otherwise, we'll have no further comment in any way."

"I think there's universal confusion as to what the opinion actually says," said House Public Education Committee Chairman Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands. "I don't think they want to come out with a definitive answer because it hasn't been tested."

mtaboada@statesman.com; 445-3620

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/r ... ition.html

Aside from being in our country illegallly, illegals and their parents have never paid into our tax system. They have not earned the right.