Resident tuition urged for immigrant children Opponents say that the plan rewards illegal immigration
TARA MCLAIN
Statesman Journal
March 29, 2005
Natividad Silva pays taxes that subsidize Oregon students' university tuition.
Yet the Mexican-born mother and community-college student cannot use that same benefit until her already-approved green card is processed.
That could take years.
Silva will finish her transfer degree later this spring at Mount Hood Community College. She has barely afforded the tuition while supporting her family.
Unless Senate Bill 769 passes, she said, there is no way she can afford out-of-state tuition at an Oregon university, where she wants to earn a business degree.
The bill would extend in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants who graduate from Oregon high schools and have lived in the state for three years.
"I was forced to come here as a child," Silva said outside of a Senate Education Committee hearing about the bill Monday evening.
"All these years I've been a very productive citizen. We play by the rules, yet we are not recognized for our work," she said.
Jim Ludwick of Oregonians for Immigration Reform asked the committee to wait until a lawsuit challenging a similar law in Kansas is resolved in a federal court.
Ludwick and others think that such state laws violate a 1996 federal law that bars states from extending in-state tuition to illegal immigrants unless the same benefit is allowed to all residents of any state.
"Wouldn't it be prudent to see what the lawsuit comes out as before Oregon endangers tens of millions (of dollars) in tuition fees?" Ludwick asked the committee.
But representatives of the Oregon University System don't think the lowered tuition will cost that much.
The proposed law actually might make money for the state, said David McDonald, director of enrollment and student services for the universities.
"We believe that absent this bill, many of these students would not attend college despite their academic preparation and motivation," McDonald said.
If 30 new students who otherwise wouldn't have applied enroll under in-state tuition, the universities estimate making $370,000 per year.
"If these students don't attend, we don't get any money from them," Sen. Charles Starr, R-Hillsboro, said in response to opponents' testimony. "There's no loss if they don't enroll."
Peter Dane, an opponent, argued that the cost of the students' tuition would be less than the cost of educating them, so there still would be a cost to taxpayers.
Sen. Ryan Deckert, D-Beaverton, said that putting the arguments of immigration aside, it would be hard for him to deny a student who has worked hard to overcome such odds to qualify for college.
"How do I, as a state senator, deny any individual their God-given right to excel?" he said.
Opponent Rick Hickey acknowledged that students shouldn't be punished for the decisions of their parents. However, he said the state government shouldn't promote illegal immigration by turning a cheek to those unlawful acts.
Undocumented workers are carrying the economy, many supporters testified. At the same time, teachers and mentors are encouraging their children to accomplish any feat, especially that of a college degree, Jose Sandoval said.
The South Salem High School teacher said he needs the bill to pass so that he can continue to encourage his students in good faith.
"We teach our students that they can become whatever they want, and I hate lying to them."