OJJPAC: In-State Tuition
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Illegal Aliens get Favorable Tuition Rates and American Students get Screwed
By Steve Salvi (Ohio State University alumni)
Public college tuition schedules are usually at least two-tiered. Residents who meet certain requirements pay "in-state
tuition," which is less than the "out-of-state tuition" that is typically paid by legal foreign students and American students whose legal residency is in another state. (Non-resident students are charged higher tuition because they have typically not had to pay the hefty state and local residential taxes which subsidize state colleges and universities.)
However, illegal aliens in some states are now paying the lower "in-state" tuition, and illegals in other states (who do not presently grant illegals in-state tuition) are now also demanding a right to in-state tuition too. The illegal aliens not surprisingly tend to gloss over the fact that they are not US citizens nor have a right to reside in the US. Many American students attending out-of-state schools think it is unfair that illegal aliens, which are primarily Mexican nationals, are given privileges that they don't even get.
The open-border ethnocentric advocates (such as La Raza, MEChA, LULAC) and their supporters in the US Congress are even trying to legitimize this injustice to American families by attempting to pass legislation which would regularize the practice of giving illegal aliens lower tuition fees. The bill is called the "DREAM Act -- which is great for illegals but a nightmare for US taxpayers.
Why should US taxpayers be forced to subsidize the college education of millions of illegal aliens when many Americans can't afford to send their own children to college? Wouldn't it be nice if Americans could
sneak into another country, pay no taxes, and get the privileges of a free K-12 grade education and then get a
discounted college education? That is exactly what is happening in the US -- illegal aliens are sneaking into the US (which by the way is a federal crime) and then going to school here on your dime. Then the illegals have the nerve to protest and vilify US legislators and citizens who dare to complain.
The bottom-line
Illegal aliens should not get special treatment in our private colleges and universities, in fact, they should not
even be admitted. As illegal aliens, they have no legal right to be in the US, so why are states allowing them the
privilege of attending US taxpayer supported schools? The answer is that too few Americans know what is going on and even fewer are doing anything about it. On the other side, the groups that support spending US tax dollars on a multitude of benefits for illegal aliens are working 24/7 to pass these moronic laws.
In my opinion, the best way to help "educate" illegal aliens is to teach them about the rule of law. And the first lesson is the enforcement of our existing immigration laws. Unfortunately, our immigration laws have been systematically undermined by the Bush Administration. This is not a partisan statement, just a known fact.
Since the legislative and executive branches of government have tended to pander to illegal immigration interests, some out-of-state students (Americans) have turned to the courts for relief. Some students are suing their colleges and universities (who give discounted tuition to illegals but not to them) for tuition reimbursement equal to the difference in the fees charged to illegals and the higher fees they are charged.
I "DREAM" that the American students win their lawsuits and the American people wake up and tell their public officials to kill the "DREAM Act" and start enforcing the law.