Posted on 09/09/2005 12:35:09 PM PDT by Coleus
Tests illegals can't pass
Jaime Juarez believes he should be at Rutgers University, studying to become an engineer. Instead, the 18-year-old Mexican is waiting tables at an Italian restaurant in Piscataway.
Rutgers had already accepted Juarez into its new freshman class by the time he graduated with high marks from New Brunswick High School on June 23. But even though he's lived in the city six years, Juarez learned from his guidance counselor that because he's an illegal immigrant, Rutgers would charge him out-of-state tuition.
That's more than double the in-state rate, an annual difference of more than $7,000, and it doesn't include fees, books or other expenses.
"In high school, I studied very hard because I want to make something of myself," says Juarez, who has been forced to put his dreams on hold.
All over New Jersey, as in 40 other states, thousands of illegal students share Juarez's plight. They believe they are shut out of public universities and community colleges because they will have to pay two and three times the tuition charged legal residents of New Jersey.
Their gloom is well-founded. The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act forbade states from granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants based on residency because those students would be paying less than out-of-state U.S. citizens.
Yet a Record survey of the state's four-year public schools and of selected North Jersey community colleges found that some colleges are allowing undocumented students to pay the lower in-state tuition, apparently violating federal law.
New Jersey's higher-education system offers no statewide guidelines to deal with illegal immigrants - what tuition to charge or even whether to admit them - leaving every college to set its own standard, several college spokesmen complained in interviews. The result, as The Record found, is a crazy quilt of policies:
Rutgers, Kean University, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey City University and Montclair State University accept illegal students but charge out-of-state tuition.
The more lenient policies appear to be the result of confusion about the federal law's requirements, rather than efforts to sidestep them. Nevertheless, they create general bewilderment for undocumented students.
Partha Banerjee, executive director of the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network, says the few four-year colleges that grant in-state tuition to illegal students - three of 10 - probably "just don't know or they are just not following" the federal rules. He says he's concerned that "once they find out this is something they cannot do, then perhaps they will stop doing it," and that would further harm the immigrant students.
"They are children who have grown up in this country," Banerjee says. "They don't relate to any other country. And then suddenly they are told they don't belong."
Denied access to aid
Even undocumented students who win admission to the nation's elite schools, where residency is not an issue, can be left out in the cold. Many are poor and normally would qualify for scholarships or financial aid, but the 1996 law says such assistance can be granted only to U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.
But to those who champion strict immigration rules, aiding undocumented students amounts to rewarding lawbreakers.
"People who are here illegally should not benefit on the backs of taxpayers," says Assemblyman Michael Carroll, R-Morristown. "Far from being welcomed with a discount, [they] should be evicted immediately."
New Jersey is home to an illegal population that demographic studies estimate at 350,000 (Pew Hispanic Center) to 500,000 (Seton Hall University's Institute on Work). That's 4 percent to 5 percent of the state total.
And while the population's shadowy nature makes it impossible to count anything with certainty, Banerjee's organization estimates some 1,200 undocumented high school graduates might apply to public colleges each year if they could pay in-state tuition.
State officials worry that an influx of students suddenly able to afford college might strain a system already filled to capacity. For the class entering last fall, the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education says, its four-year public schools received 88,467 applications but enrolled only 15,912 freshmen.
"We have huge capacity needs; we are short of space," says Jean Oswald, the commission's executive director. "If thousands more of these undocumented students are able to go to college because they can afford it, it absolutely will knock more of the legal people out."
Drawing a line
In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court gave illegal immigrants the right to attend public schools through 12th grade. The court held that children should not be penalized for their parents' decision to enter the United States illegally.
But 14 years later, the immigration reform act drew the line at a high school diploma. It barred illegal immigrants from receiving post-secondary benefits that were based on in-state residency.
To get around this restriction, nine states have granted in-state tuition to illegal immigrants based on graduation from high schools in those states, rather than home addresses.
Of the six states with the largest immigrant populations, all but Florida and New Jersey have laws guaranteeing in-state tuition to undocumented students.
Both of those states have bills pending in their legislatures, New Jersey's since 2003. The In-State Tuition Act, which would grant the lower rates to graduates of New Jersey high schools, rather than students with New Jersey addresses, has never made it out of the Senate education committee.
Apart from where they live, the toll on the students of how they live - as foreign lawbreakers - is often lost in the debate on in-state tuition.
One 22-year-old Mexican woman who had to interrupt her college studies because of the expense says she knows her parents had only good intentions when they brought her over the border illegally, at age 8. But her situation today rankles her.
"For a long time, I blamed my parents, for bringing me here the way they did," says the former student, who lives in Bergen County but did not want her identity disclosed. "It wasn't my choice. They felt awful, they said they never thought it would get this bad."
Jaime Juarez, too, is well aware that his family's lack of documentation is holding him back.
"I had a good GPA and was accepted at several colleges and universities," Juarez says. "But I can't afford to pay out-of-state tuition, and I can't even apply for grants or scholarships because immediately they ask you for a Social Security number, your family's financial records and tax information."
For Juarez, the ultimate insult came when he applied to Middlesex County College.
"They told me that since I graduated in the top 20 percent of my class, they could give me a full scholarship - but only if I was legal.
"I told them, 'Gracias,' " Juarez adds sarcastically. Room for merit? Immigration advocates insist that opportunities for achieving students, legal and illegal alike, should be based on merit.
But others argue it is wrong to secure a college slot for an illegal immigrant, particularly at the expense of a legal resident.
"A college might admit the undocumented student on merit," Oswald says, "but the bottom line is that some residents will say, 'Why should my daughter compete for a college spot against someone who is illegal?' "
Arguably, the in-state tuition laws already on the books do only so much for undocumented immigrants. Even if they earn degrees, illegal students are prohibited from working. This limitation is one focus of a federal bill known as the DREAM Act.
The DREAM Act would legalize immigrant students who have lived in the United States at least five years and can demonstrate good moral character. Students who meet those requirements would be eligible for in-state tuition and federal financial aid.
Advocates say that if nothing is done to make college more affordable, undocumented students will feel increasingly alienated from the larger society.
"Those who create obstacles for immigrant students will find that in the end they will have a bigger problem," says Rafael Fraguela, the principal at The Learning Center in Passaic and a former vice principal of Passaic High. "Instead of spending more money on education, they will have to spend more money on prisons and on fighting gang violence.
"If we don't give all students the opportunity to succeed," he says, "they will look for other alternatives and then society as a whole will be endangered."
Juarez finds it particularly frustrating that some classmates who had lackluster high school records and showed little interest in higher education are now enrolled in college, while he and other undocumented students who worked hard to realize the American dream are being told they now can't afford it.
"If they were to finally pass that state law, perhaps I could afford to go to college," Juarez says. "And if they pass the federal law, perhaps I could even become a citizen and get a grant to study."
CONFUSING CHOICES FOR UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS
With no statewide standards to guide them, New Jersey's public colleges and universities present a confusing array of admission and tuition requirements to undocumented students. These were the combined tuition and mandatory fees charged for full-time undergraduates in the 2004-05 academic year.
In state Out of state:
WILL NOT ADMIT ILLEGAL STUDENTS
William Paterson University $7,952 $12,690
County College of Morris $2,835 $ 7,245
ADMITS ILLEGAL STUDENTS; CHARGES OUT-OF-STATE TUITION
Rutgers University $8,564 $15,599
New Jersey Institute of Technology $9,180 $14,978
New Jersey City University $6,550 $11,230
Kean University $7,151 $9,656
Montclair State University $6,929 $10,597
Bergen Community College $2,982 $5,634*
(*out-of-county rate)
ADMITS; CHARGES IN-STATE RATE BASED ON HOME ADDRESS
The College of New Jersey $8,978 $13,919
Rowan University $7,970 $13,798
Hudson Community College $2,993 $7,313
ADMITS; CHARGES IN-STATE RATE BASED ON HIGH SCHOOL
Ramapo College of New Jersey $8,081 $12,633
Passaic Community College $2,595 $4,665
ADMITS; IN-STATE RATE WITH PROOF OF APPLICATION FOR RESIDENCY
Richard Stockton College of N.J. $7,203 $10,368
Source: New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities; New Jersey Commission on Higher Education
THE ARGUMENTS
Illegal immigrant children may attend public schools straight through high school graduation. But when college looms, no matter how outstanding their grades or how long they have lived in New Jersey, they generally must pay the higher tuition charged to out-of-state or foreign students.
A bill pending in the Legislature would allow many illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition.
SUPPORTERS SAY:
OPPONENTS SAY:
"People who are here illegally should not benefit on the backs of taxpayers. Far from being welcomed with a discount, [they] should be evicted immediately." - Assemblyman Michael Carroll, R-Morristown
"Those who create obstacles for immigrant students will find ... they will have to spend more money on prisons and on fighting gang violence." - Rafael Fraguela, principal at The Learning Center in Passaic and a former assemblyman
Tuition for illegals: Yea or nay?
New Jersey voters are split on whether undocumented students should pay the same rates for college as legal residents of New Jersey.
Of 810 likely voters recently polled by the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities, 46 percent said they would allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition, 45 percent said they opposed the idea and the remaining 9 percent were unsure or refused to answer.
Now, given the full name, age, location, and employer of this illegal alien, what will Homeland Security do about it, if anything?
First question:
Are you an American citizen?
Answer: No
Next applicant...
why hasn't he been deported?
Wormwood feels Jaime Juarez should be in Mexico, studying to become a law-abiding citizen.
boo-fuggin-hoo
Solution, lower the standards, entrance exams.
look what it did for the NOPD. 10 years ago they lowered their standards and look how it's paid them back over the last couple of weeks.
progress "show" is nice.
I wish...
Aw, darn. Maybe LULAC will give him a scholarship for the amount of Rutgers' out-of-state tuition.
"Juarez learned from his guidance counselor that because he's an illegal immigrant, Rutgers would charge him out-of-state tuition."
Because he's an illegal immigrant, he shouldn't be admitted to college in the first place! ARGH!
Incredible that illegal aliens are complaining they don't get the in-state rate.
They don't pay taxes in that state.
Its equally incredible that some schools actually give them the in-state rate.
This country is screwed.
First question:
Are you an American citizen?
Answer: No
Bang!
Next applicant...
The dems have produced this culture of entitlement.
He should be fingerprinted and thrown in jail for a year, then deported; if he ever shows up in this country again, he should get fifteen years.
The current immigration system isn’t “broken” or “failed;” it's just unenforced. Not unenforceable, mind you, just ignored. Americans don’t want so-called “immigration reform, they want strict enforcement of immigration laws, an end to illegal immigration and amnesties, and an end to the rampant lawlessness engendered by politically-correct refusal to enforce our civil laws.
There's free food, subsidized housing, reduced mortgages, food stamps, free medical and education, reduced tuition and suspension of out of state tuition fees--all of this is your reward for breaking the law, but only if you aren't already an American. If you're an American, forget about it; you have to pay your way through life. This is your reward for obeying the law.
Americans have to pay full price for their education, medical care, homes, and on top of that, our taxes go to pay for criminals--that is what illegal aliens are, make no mistake: they are criminals--who get all of that for little or even for nothing. This makes it possible--even easy--for them to work for $10 an hour or less. How many of us could afford to work for peanuts IF our homes, medical, food and education were all paid for? I know that the bulk of our bills are student loans and medical; take away those bills and you take away 90% of our debt. And I know too many people my age in the same boat...so calling it a national epidemic is probably an understatement.
After all, we're the real Americans...that means we have to pay for things that immigrants--including/especially illegals--get for free so long as they have a pulse and a sob story
Jaime, here's the easy peasy solution to your problem. Break into a rich man's house and live in the basement without his knowledge until the start of the next semester and then demand that, as you are a member of his family, he pay your in-family tuition. If the guy is rich enough, you can also demand that he buy you a laptop and a BMW. Stick up for your rights, Jaime, you live there and should be treated like one of the family!
I'm just broken up(sarc) Maybe he could get into a college in OLD MEXICO.
Attention: George W. Bush and Congress.
Immigration advocates insist that opportunities for achieving students, legal and illegal alike, should be based on merit.
How many yrs. of college/degrees does it take to understand words like "illegal, deport". The folks at princeton should be on the rock pile.
Could it be that most drvers who run STOP signs are college grads? Someone do a study, Fed/Guv will fund.
Boo freakin' hoo.
When they graduate from high school they're adults. They can no longer hide behind the shield of not being responsible for their parent's actions.
They should return to their country of birth and apply for a visa if they want to come to the United States.
Universities receiving federal funds should be required to report illegal immigrants that apply, and attempting to help illegal immigrants hide their status as criminals should be a criminal offense.
Waaa, Boo Hoo Hoo. Let me check, no I don't feel any sympathy for these clowns. As Jim Carey said in Liar, Liar;
STOP BREAKING THE LAW a$$h@##$!!!!!!!!!!!
only a rich opposites house. not a conservative or republicans(its a gun warning)
I've never been able to figure out why LULAC and MALDEF, who should be the first to offer scholarships to these sob story illegals, are always conspicuously absent whenever these stories pop up.
Yes, it's a puzzle, isn't it?
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