Free Republic

Matt Lewis says he’s improving on this issue. I guess, but that’s mainly because after you’ve tried to win over voters by calling them heartless, there’s really nowhere to go but up. A scene from New Hampshire this morning: “We have, for decades, had a federal government that has absolutely failed in its constitutional duty to defend our border,” Perry said. “I’m a governor. I don’t have the pleasure of standing on the stage and criticizing. I have to deal with these issues,” he later added. Perry continued, “In 2001, we had this choice: Are we going to kick these...

In one of the more heated moments of the Republican presidential debate in Orlando, Fla., last week, several of the candidates took turns criticizing Texas Gov. Rick Perry for giving undocumented immigrants college tuition breaks. "If you say that we should not educate children that have come into our state for no other reason that they've been brought there by no fault of their own, I don't think you have a heart," he said, defending the bill he signed in 2001 that allows undocumented students who've graduated from a Texas high school and who have lived there for three years...

Via Newsmax, skip to 5:25 for evidence that his wife was right when she told Iowans this morning that he’ll be better prepared for the next debate. He’s smoother this time, emphasizing that it’s a highly bipartisan position in Texas and notably avoiding any insinuations about how evil those wingnuts in his base are. (Also: No rambling about saving a pretzel for the gas jets.) He might also note at the next debate that he’s hardly alone among prominent Republicans in backing the idea: In 2001, Perry signed the first state law in the country that allowed the children of...

The number of illegal immigrant college students paying in-state tuition and receiving financial aid at Texas' public colleges and universities continues to climb, according to state higher education records. During the fall semester, 12,138 students - about 1 percent of all Texas college students - benefited from the state law granting in-state tuition, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Most of the immigrants among those students are illegal, and some others are not legal permanent residents or U.S. citizens. Texas awarded about $33.6 million in state and institutional financial aid to those students between fall 2004 and summer...

A key California state Senate committee approved AB 131 on Thursday, paving the way for the bill to move forward in the state Senate. The bill, part of the two-bill package known as the California Dream Act, would allow college students who are illegal immigrants and qualify for in-state tuition to apply for Cal Grants and other public financial aid. Governor Jerry Brown signed a companion bill last month which would allow undocumented students to apply for private aid. But based on his statements during an editorial board meeting with the Fresno Bee last week, the Governor, citing concerns over...

The Maryland State Board of Elections said Friday that is looking into concerns about the potential for fraud with the online petition-gathering system being used by opponents of a new law that grants college tuition breaks to in-state illegal immigrants. In a May 31 letter to elections officials, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland asks for a review of the online system’s legality. The group MDPetitions.com is using the system to mount what appears to be a highly effective campaign to put the new law on hold. If the group collects 55,736 valid signatures — or 3 percent of...

The state Senate gave final legislative approval Tuesday night to a bill that will allow undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at Connecticut's public colleges and universities. After a lengthy filibuster by Republican opponents, the state Senate gave final legislative approval Tuesday night to a bill that will allow undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at Connecticut's public colleges and universities. The vote was 21-14.

The California Supreme Court decided unanimously Monday that illegal immigrants may continue to be eligible for in-state tuition rates at the state's colleges and universities rather than pay the higher rates charged to those who live out of state.In a ruling written by Justice Ming W. Chin, one of the panel's more conservative members, the state high court said a California law that guarantees the lower tuition for students who attend California high schools for at least three years and graduate does not conflict with a federal prohibition on giving illegal immigrants educational benefits based on residency.California is one of...

COLLEGE STATION - A vote at Texas A&M University has pitted students against each other. Thursday night, student senators approved a bill officially opposing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. Prior to the vote, students in opposition took to the campus with protest signs. About 300 undocumented students currently attend the university. According to state law, students who graduate from a Texas high school and meet certain requirements can get in-state tuition at public universities. The controversial bill packed the house at the senate meeting Wednesday night. "The bill is just saying automatic in-state tuition based on residency in Texas should...

A Kansas attorney has filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of Nebraska's 2006 law that allows some illegal immigrants to pay in-state college tuition. Kris Kobach filed the lawsuit Monday in Jefferson County District Court on behalf of several Nebraskans. The lawsuit names the University of Nebraska Board of Regents and other state college boards as defendants. The state law passed in 2005 deals with students whose parents brought them to the U.S. illegally. To be eligible for in-state tuition, the students must have graduated from Nebraska high schools, lived in the state for at least three years and be...

Nebraska lawmakers are set to again consider repealing a law that offers tuition breaks to some illegal immigrants, and the looming debate is already drawing support. A majority of lawmakers participating in an Associated Press pre-session survey say they support rescinding the offer made after lawmakers fought to override Gov. Dave Heineman's veto to pass the law in 2006. Of the 33 senators responding to the survey, 18 said they support repealing the measure, while six said they don't. Eight said they're unsure. One senator, Amanda McGill of Lincoln, didn't check an answer, but offered a comment asking for more...

In-state tuition rates for illegals attending State Universities are a lingering headache from the Bush era. It forces struggling young Americans to subsidize the very people who are forcing them out of their own classroom seats. Even states with high unemployment and rising tuition rates are offering this benefit to their illegal aliens in violating federal law: Title 8, Chapter 14, Section1623 stipulating only legal resident Americans and/or legal resident aliens can receive this benefit. Across the country state university systems that are offering this expensive benefit are raising tuition’s begging the question: why are American college students being forced...

Giving Illegals the Waive by: Bethany Stotts, August 04, 2009 On July 23, the Texas Attorney General wrote the state House of Representatives to explain why Texas provides in-state tuition to illegal aliens. He argued that a) the federal government doesn’t define “postsecondary education benefit” and b) the courts have yet to decide on this issue. Section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 holds that “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State...

Illegal Immigration: As California issues IOUs to its citizens, another ballot proposition may be brewing to cut off benefits that are draining the state budget. From education to welfare to crime, the cupboard is bare.California is a leader in both government debt and the sanctuary city movement. But as its citizens seek shelter from the economic storm, the question has arisen anew whether its non-citizens and the better life they want takes precedence over its citizens and the better life they are entitled to. In this mother of all recessions, it's getting harder to argue that illegal aliens are here...

Students from 19 states yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from California officials for charging them significantly more than illegal aliens pay to attend state-run colleges. The 42 plaintiffs say California state lawmakers and the University of California board of regents knowingly violated a federal law enacted in 1996 that says any state that offers discounted in-state tuition to its illegal aliens must provide the same lower rates to all U.S. citizens. California has a "unique" statute barring discrimination on the basis of geographic origin, said lead attorney Michael J. Brady. Some students in the...

Wading into the politically charged immigration debate, a group of colleges and universities is urging Congress to give illegal immigrants tuition aid and a path to citizenship in light of efforts in several states to block them. The College Board, made up of 5,000 schools and best known for its SAT college admission tests, released a report Tuesday that cites a need for federal legislation that would open up in-state college tuition, financial aid and legal status to many illegal immigrants in the U.S. Speaking publicly on the issue for the first time, the board is making its push after...

... A blue-ribbon panel convened by Gov. Jon S. Corzine to study immigration matters unanimously supported the proposal [to allow illegal immigrants in New Jersey to pay in-state college tuition] in a report issued last month, and the governor has also endorsed the idea. Meanwhile, a new, more liberal wind blows in Washington. But even the most hopeful immigrant advocates in New Jersey concede that these developments may not be enough to push the proposal, which is outlined in several bills, through the State Legislature, particularly during a recession and in a year in which the governor and the entire...

The Colorado Senate today narrowly rejected a bill that would have allowed illegal immigrants in-state tuition after five Democrats joined with Republicans to vote against it...Sen. Chris Romer, Denver Democrat who sponsored the bill, said it was hard for some lawmakers to support the bill in the current tough economic times....,adding that he would try to bring the legislation back next year. The bill would have allowed any student who had attended a Colorado high school for at least three years...to attend public colleges and universities at the in-state tuition rate, regardless of their immigration status.... Republicans argued that the...

A bill to allow illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state college tuition may have the best chance of passing in years because of the support of some key Colorado Republican businessmen. The latest effort, pushed by state Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, would allow illegal immigrants ... to get the in-state tuition rate at state colleges and universities, which would save the undocumented students thousands of dollars. The bill is scheduled to get its first committee hearing Thursday. A bill passed last year clarified that U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants are Colorado residents and thus eligible for in-state tuition. Romer's bill...

A Colorado lawmaker is proposing giving in-state college tuition to all Colorado high school students, including illegal immigrants. What do you think of the proposal? I agree. The more kids going to college the better. I disagree. Illegal immigrants should not get in-state tuition I don't care either way