SAT., MAR 21, 2009 - 6:09 PM
Move to allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition back in budget
By DEBORAH ZIFF
608-252-6234
dziff@madison.com

For the fourth straight budget, Gov. Jim Doyle has included a provision that would allow illegal immigrants who graduate from Wisconsin high schools to pay in-state tuition at University of Wisconsin institutions.

The state Legislature has stripped the item out of each budget in the past, but with a Democratic majority in both houses, advocates are hopeful it will be successful this time.

But even some Democrats say the measure faces serious problems, including the potential to conflict with a 1996 federal law. That law prohibits states from providing any higher education benefit based on residency to illegal immigrants unless they provide the same benefit to other U.S. citizens, regardless of where they live.


• National Immingrant Law Center
• About the Dream Act


That could mean a student from, for instance, Montana, would pay in-state tuition at UW-Madison, said Rep. Kim Hixson, D-Whitewater, chairman of the committee on colleges and universities.

“We can’t go against what is federal law,â€