I emailed and called Senator Hutchisons office today. My point was clear. I am against the Dream Act and any other bill that grants any form of amnesty to people illegally in this country. She sure listened to me. Read the reply below.

Thank you for contacting me regarding in-state tuition for long-term resident immigrants. I welcome your thoughts and comments on this issue.

On March 1, 2007, Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA) introduced H.R. 1275, the American Dream Act. This legislation would allow states to offer in-state tuition rates to long-term resident immigrant students. Specifically, it seeks to repeal a provision in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 which requires states providing in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants to offer the same benefits to out-of-state residents.

A similar measure, S. 774, the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act of 2007, was introduced by Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) on March 6, 2007, and has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which I do not serve. This measure would also allow certain long-term residents who entered the U.S. as children to have their immigration or residency status adjusted to conditional permanent residents or permanent residents. Should H.R. 1275 or S. 774 come before the full Senate, you may be certain I will keep your views in mind.

On June 17, 2001, Texas began allowing nonresident students who have graduated from a Texas high school and resided in the state for at least three years to qualify for in-state tuition. These students are also eligible for state financial aid programs such as the Texas Public Educational Grant Program and the Students Incentive Grant Program.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I have been committed to increasing federal support of Hispanic Serving Institutions, which serve almost one-half of the 1.5 million Hispanic students currently enrolled in college programs. Title V of the Higher Education Act remains the primary vehicle through which federal funds can be targeted to help strengthen institutions that serve Hispanic students. Working with my colleagues, we have substantially increased federal funding to Hispanic-Serving Institutions from $10.8 million in 1996 to almost $95 million in 2006, with total funding approaching $635 million over the ten year period. I believe this is an important investment to ensure our state's youngest and largest ethnic population will have access to the educational opportunities they need to excel. As we move forward in the 110th Congress, you can be assured that I will work to keep this important funding a top priority.

I appreciate hearing from you and hope you will not hesitate to keep in touch on any issue of concern to you.


Sincerely,
Kay Bailey Hutchison