Thread: Perry's solution won't work here (MA)

Perry's solution won't work here

sentinelandenterprise.com
Editorial
Posted: 10/02/2011 06:31:05 AM EDT

Just because Texas politicians endorse illegal immigration doesn't mean the rest of the states should do the same.

And that's where Texas Gov. Rick Perry is wrong in his assessment of Americans who want existing illegal-alien laws upheld. He said they don't "have a heart."

Perry, a leading Republican U.S. presidential candidate, is right to offer a compromise on an issue that has grown contentious on state and national levels for years.

Perry's Texas compromise is but one solution, and it's a partial solution at best.

Perry's legislation, approved in 2001 in a bipartisan fashion, allows children of illegal immigrants to pay the same public college tuition as do all Texas residents who are U.S. citizens. A condition is that the immigrant children spend at least three years in a Texas high school, graduate and register toward becoming a U.S. citizen upon college enrollment.

According to a March 2011 report in The Dallas Morning News, 12,138 students -- or 1 percent of all Texas college students -- have been granted in-state tuition and financial aid. All are children of illegal immigrants.

In arguing his point at a recent GOP presidential debate in Florida, Perry said Texas law helps to create productive and law-abiding citizens. The children arrive in Texas through no fault of their own, said Perry, and should not be held responsible for their parents' illegal status.

The question Perry doesn't answer, however, is this: How many students in this category have fulfilled their obligation to become U.S. citizens? We couldn't find an answer.

Perry's compassion may be well-intentioned but it doesn't pass the accountability test -- and that's where his compromise on lawful principles is exposed as fraudulent.

Texas is a border state and, like Arizona and California, is a magnet for immigration, mostly from Mexico. The issue is more pressing in these states than here in Massachusetts because of the overwhelming numbers of illegal residents using public services and driving up government expenses. In Texas, 70 percent of illegal-immigrant families receive welfare assistance, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.

If Perry and Texans think this is good for their state, fine. But it is wrong to force such a policy on Massachusetts or any other state.

Efforts in Massachusetts to liberalize policies toward illegal immigrants, like in-state tuition and driver's licenses, have failed -- and thankfully so. Otherwise, the Bay State would become an overnight sensation for illegal immigration, because of its generous cost-of-living entitlement programs.

Looking the other way on illegal immigration has ingrained unfairness and inconsistency throughout America, from law enforcement to the courts to public assistance. U.S. citizens are getting hurt daily even if the wounds are invisible to the eye. Where's the compassion shown to them?

Mr. Perry, the vast majority of Americans who want illegal immigration laws enforced are not heartless. They're just not Texans. And don't you forget it.


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Massachusetts has a very friendly illegal policy

Kathy is right. I used to work in Mass. and I worked with many illegals.