Tuesday, June 03, 2003

Speaking of hands in our pockets
Phil Kent editorializes in the Washington Times:
In a two-pronged assault by the open-borders lobby, there is a move in Congress and activity in a dozen states to actually grant in-state college tuition to immigrants who have snuck into this country illegally. It is incredible that Congress and various state legislatures are wasting time and money on considering such undeserved generosity — but the fact they are emphasizes how bold this radical lobby has become even in the post-September 11 era.

Under a 1996 federal immigration law, states cannot offer in-state tuition to illegals unless it is offered to all legal U.S. residents, regardless of where they come from. But Texas, California, New York, Oregon, Washington and Utah are trying to circumvent the law by basing their in-state tuition policy for undocumented students on whether they've graduated from a state high school after a certain number of years of attendance.
I thought the states were all facing budget shortfalls. How come some of them are trying to implement their own foreign aid programs?

But the best is yet to come:
Furthermore, illegal aliens are beginning to get tuition breaks by stealth; that is, some liberal college presidents are simply implementing the practice on their own. At least three Georgia colleges give acknowledged law-breakers "presidential waivers" on out-of-state tuition fees. The amounts vary but consider the fees at just one of these schools, Dalton State. In-state tuition there is $666 per semester for a full-time student, compared with $2,664 for out-of-state residents.
Hey, why not? It's not their money. Maybe we should start deducting the fees from the salaries of the relevant bureaucrats.