Lone Star College System and Richard Carpenter v. Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas

Stop the Magnet ^ | August 29,2014 | Liz Theiss

[magna carta]

Texans, There's a New Front in the Judicial Branch

Lone Star College System and Richard Carpenter v. Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas

For Texans interested in cutting off free tuition funds for college to those who are unlawfully present in the United States, please consider joining IRCOT (Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas).

This case challenges the use of Texas taxpayer dollars for illegal use of the Texas General Revenue fund for grants to unlawfully present aliens in violation of federal laws. The state of Texas has failed to “affirmatively state” the use of such funds in law and is only one of three states providing free money for illegally present students to pursue secondary education.

To win this case before the Texas Supreme Court, IRCOT must prove its case when the case returns to trial court. It must show that its membership includes Texas taxpayers that do not merely pay the sales tax but also more state specific taxes such as taxes on oil and gas royalties, the state franchise tax or members who pay occupation taxes like a real estate broker license or an attorney’s occupation tax.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Everybody has rights except taxpaying US citizens.

[Jane Long]

Hmmmm....I wonder where AG/Candidate for TX Governor is on this. Any idea? Thanks.

[thackney]

I haven’t seen his public stance on this specific, but I’ll bet he agrees more with my ideas than Wendy Davis.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

This issue was especially disgusting to me because we lived in Texas, paid taxes and owned a business for 14 years. We moved to Pennsylvania for 6 years (and three of those we still had a business interest in Texas) - we moved back to Texas so our daughter could attend college and of course we were subject to the out of state tuition charges. So illegals either got free tuition or at the very least in state costs, and we had to pay almost three times the amount her entire first year, which included summer classes.

[Jane Long]

Agree. I just haven’t heard much, from Abbott, about this particular issue. I’d like to know if he disagrees with Perry, on this.

[JoeFromSidney]

In-state tuition for those here illegally really irks me. When I was in the Air Force, being stationed all over the USA, my wife and I maintained legal residence in Ohio (drivers license, auto tags, voting registration, etc.) When I was stationed in Alabama, and the youngest of our children reached school age, my wife decided to go back to college to finish her degree. She had to pay out-of-state tuition, since we weren't residents of Alabama. Never mind that I was in the USA legally, and was even spending a career defending the country. She'd have gotten a better break from college if she were in the country illegally.

[magna carta]

Wow...you have a good story to share. In the Lone Star case outlined, due to a 2011 SCOTUS ruling attorney Steve Smith decided to forego the instate tuition issue and just focus on GRANTS. These operate like full-blown scholarships. We will soon have some facts/figures on this.