|
|
| |
| Mon, Sep. 8, 2008 |  |
 |
|
||
| |
Federal judge: Illegal immigrants qualify for tuition breaks Sunday, Jul 10, 2005 By Dennis Byrd The test case turned out in favor of undocumented immigrants being allowed to pay in-state tuition rates to attend state colleges and universities. No, it was not in Arkansas because the Arkansas Legislature attempted but failed this year to pass legislation that would have allowed immigrants not here legally - sans "papers" in other words - to go to state colleges and universities by paying the same tuition as legal Arkansas residents. A federal judge in Kansas said decisions on who qualifies for such things as in-state tuition, or perhaps academic scholarships, rest with legislatures and Congress, not with the courts. Naturally, there will be an appeal. Out-of-state students getting their postsecondary education in Kansas and some parents sued because they said it was unfair for undocumented immigrants in Kansas to pay a lower rate than they pay. The judge who dismissed the case said the out-of-staters had no standing to challenge the law. The 18 students and six parents who filed the suit were not directly harmed by the state law, U.S. District Judge Richard Rogers said in his 38-page ruling. The fairness issue was one of the many arguments made by Arkansas legislators. The bill began as one touted by Gov. Mike Huckabee to allow undocumented Arkansans to qualify for state-sponsored academic scholarships the same way as legal residents. The governor, who drew criticism from some quarters for backing the proposal, said children who have been good students deserve the same opportunities, regardless of their parents' standing. Hard-liners, led by state Sen. Jim Holt, R-Springdale, said "illegal aliens," as they prefer, have no rights because they're lawbreakers. It may not be fair to single Holt out because he had plenty of company. When House Bill 1525 stalled in a Senate committee, the scholarship portion of the bill was stripped out, sending the measure to the Senate floor, where it failed twice, the final time by only two votes. An attorney for the Kansas out-of-staters, Mike Hethmon of the Washington, D.C.-based Federation for American Immigration Reform, vowed to appeal, according to the Wichita Eagle, which reported on Tuesday's ruling. He expressed disappointment that the judge ruled on a technicality rather than on the merits of the argument. The state's argument was that the law was based not on citizenship but on a qualifying student having attended Kansas public schools for three years. That's the same language that was in the Arkansas proposal. Kansas is one of nine states with such a provision for undocumented immigrants. The failure of Arkansas to pass the bill makes it difficult to determine who Hispanic residents can trust when it comes to political affiliation, according to Angela Schnuerle, U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln's liaison to the Hispanic community in Washington County. Rep. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, sponsored the bill, but legislative support and opposition did not fall along party lines, which made the bill a difficult issue to understand, she told state Democrats in May. Arkansas regained some credibility in the Latino community by hosting the recent League of United Latin American Citizens convention in Little Rock. Huckabee, a Republican, was among the well-received speakers. Whether his position hurts him or helps him politically remains to be seen. Regardless, he got this issue right, and he explained his position to conventioneers in a golden way: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." Meanwhile, a spokesman for Attorney General Mike Beebe says the Kansas ruling may not clear the way for the Arkansas Legislature to move forward with a similar bill since the dismissal appears to be based on who doesn't have standing to sue rather than whether it's legal to provide in-state tuition rates to illegals. The judge did say it was a legislative issue, not a judicial one. That should be enough. ----- Dennis A. Byrd is chief of the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock. His e-mail address is dbyrd@arkansasnews.com; his telephone number is (501) 374-0699. |
