Nonresidents illegally deprived of in-state tuition
Nonresident students paying out-of-state tuition at Utah State University may be entitled to a refund if a state law permitting children of illegal aliens to pay in-state tuition at Utah’s colleges and universities is not repealed.
House Bill 144, sponsored by Rep. David Ure, R-Kamas, was signed into law by Gov. Mike Leavitt last year.
The new law allows the children of undocumented Utah residents to pay in-state tuition, provided they have attended high school in Utah for three or more years and have graduated or received the equivalent of a high school diploma.
Three other states — California, Texas and New York — have similar laws.
Now, the Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement, a Washington-based interest group is citing federal law in arguing that these measures infringe upon the rights of American citizens.
“According to 8 USC Sec. 1623, if a state offers discounted, in-state post-secondary tuition aid to illegal aliens, it must also offer the same aid to all Americans, regardless of residency,” FILE spokesman Craig Nelson said.
“The four states that currently give tuition breaks to illegal aliens charge American citizens from other states higher tuition fees.”
This, he says, is wide of the mark.
“Not only does it violate federal law, but it makes universities liable for massive financial burden [should disadvantaged students demand their money back],” Nelson said.
FILE is encouraging nonresident students to claim out-of-state tuition refunds and has threatened to bring suit against institutions that fail to comply.
“It would be classified as a class-action suit,” Nelson said.
The move would come as a blow to USU, which together with the University of Utah, had voiced strong support for HB 144. In a guest commentary appearing in The Salt Lake Tribune last year, President Kermit L. Hall urged Utahns to support the legislation, as it helped promote “the dream that America promises.”
“America is a nation of immigrants who came to this country to seek a better life. Access to education has provided the keys that moved many of them forward, away from low-paying, dead-end jobs,” Hall wrote. “Education translates into a skilled, knowledgeable workforce and citizenry who contribute to their communities. It is an investment in themselves and, for the rest of us, it is an investment in our own lives, our own neighborhoods.”
But not when the state is grappling with finances, countered Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based think tank committed to studying the impacts of immigration on the United States.
“The latest Immigration and Naturalization Service estimate for Utah, in terms of the number of illegal aliens, totals about 65,000. Of these, about a couple of thousands would qualify for assistance under the new law,” Camarota explained. “Still, the difference [between out-of-state and in-state tuition] is substantial — about $8,000 a year. That equals out to about $16 million. The state is not awash in cash. And you’re talking serious money.”
USU currently supports three students who qualified for in-state tuition under HB 144, university spokesman John DeVilbiss said.
“There’s potential for this to have a large impact if they [illegal aliens] all qualified,” he added.
In fact, financially, it would benefit the university if the state repealed the measure.
“But that does not mean we don’t support the [Utah] law,” DeVilbiss said. “In fact, we advocated it.”
FILE argues that when immigration law is winked at, particularly by those in academia, it creates a situation responsible for hundreds of border deaths, like those of the 14 men and women who left their coffee farms in Veracruz, Mexico, and traveled north, only to die of agonizing dehydration on the hardpan of the Sonora desert in 2001.
“The humane thing to do for these illegal aliens is to help them return to their countries,” Nelson said.
While some proponents of HB 144 agree, they counter that their approach is grounded in reality.
Listen to DeVilbiss: “There’s logic to that reasoning, but we’re dealing with realities. We have fathers and mothers who are living in this state and paying taxes. We must acknowledge these children, because if we don’t, we’re preventing them from becoming productive citizens.”
His argument would have no takers in Virginia, where lawmakers voted in February to make illegal aliens ineligible for in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities. The measure was backed by Virginia Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore.
“I believe that it is not too much to ask that people follow the rules of our society before they take advantage of what our society has to offer,” Kilgore said in a statement to the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch.
Nelson echoed the same point of view.
“The American people, through Congress, have instituted certain limits. Many foreigners have decided to violate these laws,” he said. “They must realize that their personal interests do not trump the will of the American people.”
–leon@cc.usu.edu