Posted on 03/15/2011 7:39:57 AM PDT by moonshinner_09
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Maryland senators have passed the bill that gives an in-state tuition break to undocumented students.
The bill, passed in a 27-20 vote Monday night, still must be approved by the House of Delegates before going to Gov. Martin O'Malley, who has said he would sign it.
During debate, Sen. Victor Ramirez, the bill sponsor who immigrated legally as a child from El Salvador, told opponents that voting against the bill would not solve problems relating to people living illegally in the state. He said the legislation was needed to help people who live here reach their potential and contribute as much as possible to the state.
"It's about education," Ramirez, D-Prince George's, said. "It's not about immigration."
The financial implications for students are significant. In-state tuition is $8,416 annually, and out-of-state students pay $24,831 a year. "I think this sends a terrible message to everyone in the state that you can break the law and you can get a benefit."
(Excerpt) Read more at wbaltv.com ...
This stuff is going on here in New Jersey too.
Its a national epidemic fueled by giant multi-national corporations in search of cheap labor and both political parties in search of votes.
We don’t count anymore because we have rewarded elected officials for bad behavior by re-electing them too often.
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
My parents lawfully immigrated to the United States in the 1980s and settled across the Potomac in Virginia. I gained my U.S. citizenship simply by being born on U.S. territory.
Yet Maryland would charge me out-of-state rates while giving in-state rates to those who break the law. In this case, I was thinking of taking a graduate class or two in College Park at some point (their CS and EE programs are top-notch) but I think now I will stay in Virginia instead.
(On a broader level, that's what the DREAM Act really is. It's not about access to education--illegal aliens do have as much eligibility to apply and be accepted to U.S. universities--but rather about access to Federal education benefits, including grants, student loans, and affirmative action programs, ahead in line of their counterparts back in their home countries who followed the law.)
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