Thread: Truth Squad: Do illegal immigrants get tuition discount?

Truth Squad: Do illegal immigrants get tuition discount?
cnn.com
By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 12:37 PM EST, Fri September 23, 2011

(CNN) -- At Thursday night's presidential debate in Orlando, Florida, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney hit Texas Gov. Rick Perry hard on the issue of immigration, characterizing his policies as encouraging illegal immigration. He specifically criticized Perry's support for a Texas law that allows children of illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities, likening it to a $100,00 educational discount. Perry defended the state policy as important for integrating future generations into the economic mainstream and said it's "heartless" to deny the children of illegal immigrants a chance at in-state tuition rates.

The statement:

"I gotta be honest with you. I don't see how it is that a state like Texas ... to go the the University of Texas, if you are an illegal alien, you get an in-state tuition discount. That's $22,000 a year. Four years of college. Four years of college, almost $100,000 discount if you are an illegal alien (to) go to the University of Texas.

The facts:

According to the Web site http://collegeforalltexans.com, which helps estimate tuition costs for students at various public schools in Texas, it would cost about $24,700 a year for a resident of Texas, whether a legal U.S. citizen or not, to attend the University of Texas at Austin. The figure includes tuition, fees, room and board and other incidental expenses. For an out-of-state student, and that includes legal U.S. residents, that figure climbs to about $47,400 a year.

With the same variable in play except for in-state or out-of-state status, the difference is about $22,700. Added up over a four-year college career with the same rates, that's almost $91,800 a year.

However, Texas is not the only state that allows illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition. California, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin allow illegal residents to qualify for in-state tuition. Another dozen states have passed specific laws refusing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.

The verdict: True, but incomplete.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/23/politics/ ... +Recent%29

Among other illegal alien costs that are hidden costs and not even mentioned in this ENTIRE TUITION debate is the cost of free, or almost free medical treatment, housing, food stamps, and welfare.

And that is for the young healthy illegal aliens.

I haven't even gotten to social security and other hidden benefits yet. Then there's the hidden fact almost half of all federal prisons are populated by illegal aliens from Mexico.

I dare Fox or CNN to allow those to be asked in the upcoming debates.

There are lots of not-so-obvious costs of illegal immigration: School over-crowding, increased wear and tear on our infrastructure, the costs of feeding and housing illegal aliens in our prison system and the tens of thousands of legal us citizens who have been the victims of crimes perpetrated by illegals just to name a few off the top of my head.

If anyone with even average intelligence does a little research on the subject, they will find an astounding array of detrimental effects on our nation and culture caused by illegal immigration.