YOUR TURN: No Dream for Citizens

San Antonio Express-News
August 11, 2009 Tuesday
EDITORIAL - REP. LAMAR SMITH

I disagree with "Education access limit a bad move" (Editorial, Aug. 3). We should not reward illegal behavior with in-state tuition. And we should not pass the Dream Act.

The Dream Act puts illegal immigrants ahead of U.S. citizens and legal immigrant students.

If the Dream Act were to pass, illegal immigrants would take more of the limited number of spaces available for students at public universities, crowding out deserving American students.

Equally troubling, the Dream Act would provide illegal immigrants a faster path to citizenship than legal immigrants who have respected our laws.

It is fundamentally unfair to tell American parents who are not from Texas but have paid taxes all their lives that they have to pay higher tuition bills to send their children to college in our state than do illegal immigrants.

It would be equally unfair to force Texas parents to pay more than illegal immigrants to send their kids to school in other states.

U.S. citizens and legal immigrants should be first in line to receive in-state tuition, not those who violate federal law.

U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith,
Ranking Member, House Judiciary Committee

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