Posted on 01/02/2006 11:39:26 AM PST by BenLurkin
This is one of those "Have we all gone mad?" editorials we write around here every so often. But that's the only question we can ask when things get so turned around, as the issue of illegal immigrants and college tuition.
In 1996, Congress made it explicitly illegal to offer any benefit to illegal immigrants that is not offered to Americans. This is common sense, but still it needed to be codified into law.
Nonetheless, nine states, including of course California, offer tuition breaks to illegal immigrants attending state schools.
California passed its version of the law back when Gray Davis was governor. It was the pet project of the Democrats in the state Legislature. Even so, Davis at first vetoed the bill to grant in-state tuition to any illegal immigrant who attended three years of high school here. He vetoed it because, well, see paragraph three above: It is illegal to offer any benefit to illegal immigrants that is not offered to Americans.
Not content with Davis' veto, the Democrats brought the bill back again.
This time Davis allowed it to become law by neither signing nor vetoing the bill.
The difference is about $17,000 per year, per student - tens of millions of dollars total.
The argument for offering the students in-state tuition is that many of them were brought here from other countries illegally by their parents, but the students themselves did nothing wrong. We understand that.
But who is responsible for them being here? Who is responsible for their education?
Their parents.
It comes down to simple fairness. Why should parents who live in Utah or Arizona or Texas have to pay $17,000 more than parents who came to California illegally? They shouldn't.
Now the taxpayers of California are again going to get soaked.
(Excerpt) Read more at avpress.com ...
"Some editorialists will try to make this debate out to be a complex one, with strong conflicting arguments for both sides. It's not."
Amen!
These illegal invaders should not even be allowed in our schools. Period. Washington is TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL and this insanity proves it.
I disagree with the ending of this article. You may be paying either way, but there is one way to cut the spigot off and that is to win the lawsuit and end the practice of providing illegal immigrants in state tuition.
The federal courts would strike it down as "states infringing on federal authority"...the same way they struck down California Proposition 187.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
The "FEEL GOOD" Dims in California might have gone too far this time in trying to buy votes from minorities. Even though those legislators may feel the tens of millions of dollars paid out in awards will be worth it, the taxpayers of California might take a different view. I believe the average citizen understands the folly of a state passing a law that's contrary to federal law.
And what a shame that "Republican" Schwarzenegger didn't pick up the fight for 187 when Gray was ousted.
How about we prevent any illegals from attending American Universities in the first place. They should certainly not be receiving government financial assistance. We should be educating our own citizens.
Illegal aliens, are protected here in this state, thanks to Grey-out Davis. Are they an endangered species or something???
We Americans are the endangered species I'm afraid.
That would have been better.
Lawsuit challenges student fees
By Juliet Williams, Associated Press Writer,
SACRAMENTO -- A group of out-of-state college students filed a class-action lawsuit Wednesday challenging a law that lets some illegal immigrants who graduate from California high schools pay lower in-state fees at the state's public colleges and universities. The 2002 law allows students who attend at least three years of high school in California to qualify for the same in-state fee break given to California citizens, regardless of immigration status.
The lower fee levels can save students thousands of dollars a year. For example, out-of-state students pay nearly $24,000 a year to attend the University of California, about $17,000 more than California residents.
The lawsuit was filed in Yolo County on behalf of 42 plaintiffs, including two children of a former San Diego congressman. Attorneys for the plaintiffs said the discriminatory policy affects 60,000 out-of-state students who pay higher fees than in-state illegal immigrants and will be seeking damages.
"The class becomes bigger each year because each year thousands of law-abiding freshmen enter our system," said Redwood City attorney Michael Brady.
At issue is a federal law the plaintiffs claim specifically bars states from offering benefits to illegal immigrants without also making them available to U.S. citizens.
California is one of nine states with laws allowing undocumented students to qualify for lower in-state tuition rates. A lawsuit filed in federal court in Kansas challenging that state's law was dismissed, but is being appealed.
But spokespeople for the state's largest public universities said they believe they are complying with federal and state laws.
About 70 percent of the UC students who benefit from the California law are American citizens in unique circumstances, such as those who attended boarding school in California despite having a legal address in another state, said University of California spokeswoman Ravi Poorsina.
She said 1,339 of the system's roughly 208,000 students received the fee break in 2004-05.
"When we adopted the policy, it really had nothing to do with illegal immigrants. We were conforming the university's policies with state law," she said.
The California State University system does not record how many students there are using the law to save the $10,170 a year in out-of-state fees, said CSU spokeswoman Clara Potes-Fellow.
"Part of the law is that this is confidential, so we don't gather names, we don't gather numbers," she said.
To qualify for the in-state rate, students must have attended a California high school for at least three years, must graduate from a California high school and must sign an affidavit declaring that they will seek to become legal residents as soon as it is feasible.
Suzanne Kattija-Ari, 23, a UC-Davis veterinary student from Hawaii whose father immigrated from Thailand in the 1970s, said the fee break is unfair to those who follow the law but end up paying more than their illegal counterparts.
She said she has had to work several part-time jobs and take out student loans to pay her high out-of-state fees.
"It's not so much that they got this benefit and we didn't, it's just the unfairness of it," she said. "They're 18 now. They should do the right thing, apply for citizenship."
The lawsuit was sparked when former Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-San Diego, discovered that his children would have to pay more than $2,000 to attend community college after attending private school in Virginia.
Olgalilia Ramirez, 23, and several other students protested the lawsuit at the plaintiffs' press conference Wednesday on the Capital steps. She said she is a citizen but some immigrant members of her family have benefited from the fee discount.
"Undocumented out-of-state students still pay the higher rate. This is solely in support of California residents. They pay taxes here, their parents pay taxes," said Ramirez, a sociology student at Sacramento State University.
She said most undocumented immigrants want to become American citizens, but it is a costly and lengthy process, and students don't usually have the money to pay for it.
Former Assemblyman Marco Firebaugh, D-South Gate, who wrote the California law, did not return a phone call to his Los Angeles office Wednesday.
At Cal Poly Pomona, students interviewed about the law were mixed in their opinions of it.
Gus Rubio, a fourth-year student, said a student's immigration status shouldn't matter.
"Being from a Hispanic heritage, I feel if they've lived here, that they should be able to pay in-state tuition," Rubio said.
Robin Joseph, who was also in his fourth year of studies, said his first impression of the law was that it's a bad idea.
"It's basically saying it's OK to be an illegal," he said.
But Joseph added that he could see the benefits of allowing students lacking legal status to pay in-state tuition.
The lower fees would encourage people to go to college and contribute both to society and to the national economy, he said.
"Since we didn't resolve the issue a long time ago, we have to do something ... instead of just pretending they're not here," Joseph said.
Not only is Washington out of control, the AG of this State (MA) is running for Governor and he agrees that tuition should be given to ILLEGALS, he is the freakin' AG and is doing NOTHING, ZERO, NADA about illegals and he expects to get elected as Governor, he's a democrat and by God you can bet your life he will be elected, the majority of residents of this State are suckers for punishement, they just keep on electing losers over and over again, the Dem useless mayor has been relected for his fifth, yep count 'em, FIFTH term, he is a do nothing dem, but I digress!
Not according to Grey-out Davis, The fine legal citizens of California, are not to be protected from the constant invasion from our so-called neighbor from the South.
ping
Question(s):
Are the out-of-state students bringing this lawsuit saying that they should also have been given in-state tuition rates in the interest of fairness (and thus are seeking a refund)?If the students win (and after receiving any damages from the specific action), won't the universities have to restructure the tuition formulas to allow in-state tuition to all students (legal/illegal and in-state/out-of-state) which will only make the tuition for legal, in-state students more?
Will this lawsuit do anything to eliminate the practice of giving gratuitous benefits to illegal immigrants, other than highlight the absurdity of California's laws?
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