Posted on 05/13/2008 4:28:32 PM PDT by mdittmar
North Carolina's community college system reversed itself Tuesday and said it will no longer admit illegal immigrants until federal officials formally weigh in on whether it is legal.
The college system announced last year that all of its 58 campuses would enroll illegal immigrants into degree programs who are at least 18 years old and who have graduated from high school. Previously, under a policy adopted in 2004, that decision was left to the individual campuses.
The change was supported by Gov. Mike Easley, but it provoked heavy criticism - especially from the leading candidates running to replace the outgoing governor. That led the nation's third-largest community college system to seek an opinion from the state attorney general's office on whether the admissions policy was legal under federal law.
Attorney General Roy Cooper's office recommended the community colleges drop the lenient admissions policy, and suggested that following stricter guidelines approved in 2001 - under which illegal immigrants were not eligible for a public post-secondary education - was more likely to withstand judicial scrutiny.
Both Easley and the community college system asked Cooper's office to seek formal guidance from federal authorities.
Although federal immigration officials last week released a statement saying there is no law prohibiting the state from educating illegal immigrants at public colleges and universities, Cooper's office said that statement is not the same as a legal opinion from the Department of Homeland Security.
"At the community college system's request, we are seeking guidance from the Department of Homeland Security on this admissions policy as it relates to federal law," said spokeswoman Noelle Talley.
While a number of states have debated whether undocumented immigrants should be entitled to the same tuition discounts as other in-state residents, the North Carolina debate appears to be different because it concerns whether undocumented students can attend public colleges at all, said Norma Kent, a vice president of the American Association of Community Colleges.
In Arizona, for instance, voters approved a ballot measure that prohibits undocumented immigrants from paying in-state tuition rates, a move that has driven many out of the public education system. A federal bill called "The DREAM Act" that would have given some illegal immigrants legal status to serve in the armed forces or attend college stalled last year in Congress.
Only about 100 of the nearly 300,000 degree-seeking community college students are illegal immigrants in North Carolina. They pay full, out-of-state tuition rates. Those enrolled in degree courses during the 2006-2007 school year may continue their studies, system president R. Scott Ralls said.
The system's decision does not affect illegal immigrants who are high school students taking community college classes, or adults in non-college level classes.
McCain and Huckabee are deeply saddened.
Well, duh, N.C. Finally gettin a freakin clue?
Since when does a community college ask for proof of citizenship?
Government mopes waste billions on illegal immigrants and then raise taxes to pay for things they’re suppose to pay for. We shouldn’t give them one cent or one vote until they stop screwing us over. The fastest way to a politician’s brain is through his ass, I mean wallet.
That's a darn good question.
I cannot believe it is even a matter that needs to come under question or be discussed. Look where our society has come. We are so disillusioned that we do not even know the difference between right and wrong, legal and illegal.
All three of our hack presidential candidates really hate this.
It's not just the issue of "illegals"; nor just the issue of giving state monies away; nor of possibly harboring terrorists in a college setting; but I continue to collect stories from people who've had their identity stolen find resolution -- and it's been through strict adherence to homeland security's involvement.
That is a ridiculous position for an AG to take. Anybody with ‘mental health problems’ is immune from prosecution? Now *that's* crazy.
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