Posted on 02/14/2007 12:41:46 PM PST by Graybeard58
HARTFORD -- Victoria Perez traveled to the state Capitol Tuesday to ask for a future.
Perez, a senior at New Haven's Wilbur Cross High School, aspires to go to college next year to prepare for a career in criminal justice. But she has no idea how she'll foot the bill.
The problem: She's in the United States illegally, and therefore doesn't qualify for in-state tuition rates at Connecticut's public colleges and universities. Out-of-state tuition costs three times as much.
To Perez, a native Mexican brought to the United States at 3 years old, that simply isn't fair.
"We're all created equal. I mean, we're all humans," the soft-spoken 18-year-old said.
Perez and dozens of immigrant-rights activists gathered in Hartford on Tuesday to support a bill to change that policy and extend in-state tuition rates to all residents, regardless of immigration status, at the University of Connecticut, community colleges and other public schools.
"There is no group as disenfranchised in the education system as undocumented students," said Rep. Felipe Reinoso, D-Hartford, a sponsor of the measure.
Ten other states have passed similar laws.
Those favoring the idea list numerous advantages, from improving the quality of the state's work force to extending basic decency to ambitious young people who, in many cases, did not personally violate the law.
"These kids were brought here, sometimes without any choice or against their will," Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said.
Supporters also note that federal student aid is off-limits to illegal immigrants.
The bill has no formal cost estimate, though it's certain to impact taxpayers, who subsidize in-state seats at public colleges. Some supporters estimate no more than 250 students would take advantage of the discount each year.
Regardless, Blumenthal said, the price would be fully justified, calling it "an investment that will repay itself many times over."
The idea also faces plenty of opponents, and a similar bill was narrowly defeated by the legislature two years ago. Since then, the issue has become far more polarized as immigration has accelerated.
About 11 percent of Connecticut's population was foreign-born in 2000, according to the U.S. Census, up from 8.5 percent in 1990, a difference of about 91,000 people.
During Tuesday's hearing before the higher education committee, Sen. Dan Debicella, R-Shelton, called the bill "a massive subsidy" for illegal immigrants.
"If someone has not followed the laws of the U.S. to become a citizen, why do they deserve to get the same level of tuition as legal residents?" Debicella asked.
"This seems to reward behavior that we seek to deter," the senator said.
Rep. Pamela Z. Sawyer, R-Bolton, worried the measure could hurt the state's aspiring college students by heightening the competition for admission. Many community college students are single mothers struggling to make ends meet, she said.
"There are a lot of pressures on education dollars currently in the state of Connecticut," Sawyer said.
Though several religious and civil liberties groups support the measure, it's certain to face opposition from critics of illegal immigration. Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control, a group based in Darien, mobilized significant opposition to the idea when it last faced a vote in 2005.
Rep. Selim Noujaim, R-74th District, a member of the higher education committee, said he would support the bill only for undocumented students who were brought to the United States by their parents.
"If they entered the country illegally, I would not want any part of it," said Noujaim, who was born in Lebanon and moved to the U.S. legally in 1971.
Nadia Minor, one supporter of the bill, counts herself among the lucky.
A Mexican and a cousin of Victoria Perez, she was brought to the United States at 7 years old. Though the 20-year-old graduated in the top 5 percent of her New Haven high school class, she said, she expected her illegal status to block her from college. She didn't even apply.
But Perez eventually won legal residency, thanks to her mother's native-born husband, and now attends Central Connecticut State University. She wants her cousin and her friends to have the same opportunity.
"I feel like we're paying for mistakes we didn't make," said Minor, who hopes to attend law school. "We didn't choose to come here."
She's in the country illegally and she's wants a job in criminal justice. Just damn, are we going to start letting bank robbers become cops also??. And she has the gall to want a free education?? Thank you jorge.
"These kids were brought here, sometimes without any choice or against their will," Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said.
They won't need tuition breaks once they turn 18. They'll be free to go back to where ever they are citizens of, once they are old enough to leave their lawbreaking parents.
That line kinda stuck me funny as well...
I'm of mixed thought about that. While I believe it should be an option, I dislike the idea of it being used as a substitute punishment for having been caught as an illegal.
If they self-identify, requesting that as an option?
But the current all-volunteer, professional United States military should not be a substitute for jail.
Thoughts?
The irony of it was not lost on me, either. My guess is that she wants to be in a position to let the rest of la raza off the hook when they get busted.
What a coincidence! Those of us actually BORN IN THE USA (Bruce Springsteen notwithstanding) would like a break on tuition as well.
The line starts at the back - get in it.
Friend that is not a grant, it is the law, and I have never seen anyone on free republic disagree with that law.
There are enough people who, suffice it to say, don't know what ILLEGAL means.
If they seek and are granted legal residency (e.g. become a resident alien or a legal immigrant), then there's no reason why they can't pay the prescribed state tuition. A legal resident (heck, a legal immigrant) who has the means and the mind to go to college shouldn't be denied his chance.
If they're here illegally, then the universities ought to treat them like international students and charge out-of-state tuition. Because that's exactly what they are.
To allow these to get off the hook and pay in-state tuition is an insult to not only those who worked their butts off to seek legal channels of entering our country, but an insult to every taxpayer that is basically subsidizing college for people who have no right to be here to begin with.
This young woman falls into the latter category. Therefore, it is only just that society treat her as such.
About the same as a banana!! LOL!!!!
Why are the politicians so eager to give away things to illegals? Obviously the result is intended.
I'm sick of politicians who try every sneak means to do what they really want and to ignore the wishes of the people.
Publik Skewl Educayshun alert...you aren't paying for anything, honey. You got an incredible break because of the fact that your parents came here illegally. If they hadn't, you'd have lived in whatever he!! hole they came from. Instead, you got what is by third world standards, a pretty incredible life.
If you feel you're being punished for something, you can go back wherever it was your parents came from...to fix "not choosing" to come here.
Surely she's not saying she'd have chosen not to come here, given the choice?
I need to stop responding on threads like this. The sheer chutzpah and disingenuousness make me want to pop.
And since she is an adult she will not be able to practice law even if she went to college.
"the university was forced to refund the difference between the in-state and out of state tuition"
The law of unintended consequences.
Yes, but being a US citizen isn't a basic human right.
Tha Asians rarely complain,they just work and succeed,but in this case their complaint was justified.
They can fix that any time they want. It's disingenuous to suggest they've suffered from that, or that they don't want to be here. No three year old moves where they move by choice.
"These kids were brought here, sometimes without any choice or against their will," Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said."
A graduate of the Alberto Gonzalez School of Law? Just a guess.
Bingo! That is exactly the right argument. A child raised in a state like Idaho has very few options for in-state college tuition options as compared to one born in New York for instance. Also, she is right that it isn't "fair" that she was brought here as a small child - isn't fair to the other people who were in line and waiting to get in LEGALLY - the ones that her parents shoved in front of, the ones over whom she has already gotten countless advantages because of being raised in this great country. I've had it.
The way I see it, she wants in-state tuition because OOS is 3x more. So, this is simply a problem of $$$. Apparently, she could afford the in-state tuition, so she should take a year off, get a job, save every penny and pay the rightful OOS next year. It's only a year off. How about community college?
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
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