Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Plan to give immigrants in-state tuition stalls

Only 5%-10% of illegal immigrant children who graduate from high school in the U.S., or about 65,000 students, go on to college. What a waste of educating them for 12 or 13 years! DP

By Mike Butts

idahopress.com: BOISE — Supporters of an Idaho bill that would let some illegal immigrants pay in-state college tuition said the legislation would help all Idahoans. But the bill appears to lack support from lawmakers in the Senate Education Committee where it was printed.

About 50 people rallied in front of the Statehouse annex Monday in Boise to advocate for the bill. Critics say it unfairly rewards students who do not having legal citizenship status in the United States.

A Utah State University student from Idaho spoke in favor of the bill.

“This is not an immigration debate, this is an education issue,” Krista Bustamantes said. “It’s better for the state economically, and statistically speaking for (illegal immigrant students) to get an education now in case they become citizens later.”

The bill requires students to have lived in Idaho for three years and graduated from an Idaho high school. Currently, legal U.S. residents must live in Idaho for at least one year to get in-state tuition.

Supporters say students in Idaho can attend kindergarten through high school without being asked if they are legal citizens, but that advantage ends at college. And that, they say, creates a financial burden that leaves many immigrant students out of college.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

There is much need for a bill in favor of this students to pass. I myself was undocumented whe I graduated in 1992 and was unable to continue my education due to the inability to pay so much money. I am now 34 and pursuing my dream, going to college and getting the education I always wanted. Good luck to all those who would benefit from this. They should not be paying for others decisions.