HCC rally backs tuition breaks for illegal immigrants

I dunno - when I think of "in-state resident" vs. "out of state resident", I've never really thought to distinguish between US or immigrant. So frankly, if I had to guess, I would have always assumed they had that tuition anyway.

Regardless of whether they are here legally, they do live in the state. And they pay taxes in the state, so I don't see how its really a bad thing. It's also not the kid's fault he or she is here illegally - for many, it's all they've ever known. As someone else said, getting an education is huge plus in terms of what they can contribute to society - I'm not sure why we'd want to discourage that from people who are going to live in the state anyway.

 

That is a very inaccurate claim. I busted my ass in high school, while working 20 hours a week and cheerleading,and I graduated in the top 30% of my class, but the only scholarship i got was from the school worth $2k a year for my $25k tuition. To add to it I made the Dean's list this last year and still no scholarships, but then my parents make too much money while they see less of it since citizens have to pick up the slack in income taxes that illegals don't pay. Illegals, above all, should have to pay out of state tuition because giving them a break is insulting to regular citizens, like me, who can't go to school across state lines with out kick ass out of state fees, and students who are here legally that have to pay out of state fees, in addition to the costs of traveling across the world multiple times a year.

 

Well if this simply puts immigrants on track to pay what other residents are paying I suppose that's quite different. I would prefer it said legal resident however. To offer government services that cover more than the immediate health and well being of illegals only encourages them to be illegal in the first place IMHO.

 

Well, Ms. Kette , currently about 60% of high school graduates are going on to higher education, so by this logic, half of them (top 30%) should expect to get scholarships? I don't think any university, non-profit institution that it is, would be willing or able to shoulder the cost burden for that large a percentage of their student body.

As you, I and all other current and former collegians know, the backup plans for most, if not all, non-athlete, non-valedictorian, non-minorities who want financial help are one or several of the following: Federal Pell Grants, Subsidized/Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, or even Private student loans. (My non-busted ass got all four, got the pell grants due to my father working overseas, which meant less reported income, and then being out of work, by choice, for a year after that.) Also, if you're an older adult and you work for a larger corporation, you may be able to get tuition reimbursement (with various possible restrictions on major, degree and course-by-course GPA). In total, all of these options probably represent billions of dollars in non-scholarship financial aid, all of which has one thing in common: illegal immigrants don't have access to any of it. Giving them a break might be insulting to you or I, but not doing so would be devastating to them.

It's worth noting, once again, that there are illegal immigrants who pay taxes. Remember, all of them pay sales tax, which is big part of a state's revenues (esp. in no-income tax states like Texas). And some of them whose employers don't necessarily pay them "under the table" will have Social Security and Payroll Tax deducted from their checks, they either get fake SSNs (which employers might choose not to check) or legitimate ITIN taxpayer ID numbers (which you can get even if you are illegal).

Congratulations on making the Dean's List, and on shattering the stereotype of the perky, happy, non-ass-busting cheerleader.

 

I support anything that encourages more people to get an education. Over the long run it will only benefit the country. These were kids who mostly didn't choose how they came here or even to come here at all. The have grown roots and will stay here. Again, better that they are here and more educated than here and unskilled.

Oh yeah, I didn't work hard in high school and I got my expensive private school almost completely paid for through scholarships (and a fed grant my freshman year that was taken away later, only to be relieved by a new scholarship)...lthough I still ended up with about 10k in student loans. I was actually paid to go to grad school (tuition + stipend) as well. So I don't get all of the whining about how merit-based aid does not exist for hard working students.

 

Except for the fact that you're limited in what jobs you can get (unless you get a fake SS), worried about getting caught, deported, etc. You can't get a bank account. Any number of other things.

This is like saying it's better to be poor because your health care costs are taken care of.

 

Did you see my note earlier? I was told that I didn't qualify for ANY subsidized financial aid.

 

You said federal loans. If you had been found desirable by the school (or a private scholarship organization) they would have given you money based on merit.

 

These are a small group of community college undergrads who were children of migrant workers.

I doubt that they're keeping anybody out of Harvard Business School or stealing anybody's Stafford loan.

 

I totally agree with this! I live down here in the Rio Grande Valley & believe me the illegals take full advantage of free stuff here, especially in health care. I know this because I work in the health care business.

 

The title of this thread is misleading. I would be opposed to illegals paying less than Americans' but I'm ok with illegals who have been in Texas paying "in state" rates for tuition.

 

That is a huge overstatement. A guest worker still doesn't have the opportunities as a regular citizen. Hell you can even claim a naturalized citizen may have the same rights as a native born citizen on paper, but still face discrimination in many other facets from employment, housing, etc. So you can't use the logic that they will eventually be on the same level as regular citizens.

 

The people that are the subject of this are supposedly people who came over here as kids with their parents and grew up here. The distinction between them and the average 'legal' citizen is more of a political construct than an actual one.

 

This is my exact story, except the the cheerleading part, it was football and I had an internship at a chemical plant and worked 40 hours (including weekends).

I am a minority and even I'm appaulled by this subject. It was a very difficult couple of years working my way through school and keeping up my grades in high school and college. I'm all for letting people come to this country to improve their life, but not at the expense of citizens who already live here and students who can't get the same breaks.

 

how many people here posting on this thread were turned away from community college because they couldn't afford it? Or had to pay out-of-state rates at a community college?

There's no special treatment here.

 

Football, cheerleading and 40 hr week internships are all by choice, and I'm not sure why they should merit scholarships unless you're good at them and you are willing to go to the type of college that will reward your level of performance through scholarships. If these extracurriculars, in high school, detract from getting good grades in top-level coursework, then a guidance counselor or other college-educated adult should have advised you not to do them. I just don't see how choosing to undertake these activities, in and of themselves, either merit a scholarship, or demonstrate involuntary burdens similar to that of illegal immigrants. Furthermore, I think there's a failure here to see these immigrants' undertaking a college education as a commitment to towards more productivity, rather than as a middle-class privilege from which, by having to pay out-of-state tuition with no access to loans or employer tuition reimbursement, they should effectively be banned. The only reason we have immigration laws is to curb the influx of potentially non-productive citizens into this country. If these people are smart enough to get into college then they are very likely to be more productive and they should be welcome here.

 

So we know these people are in the country illegally...

I was under the impression that illegal meant against the law. How do they even qualify for "In-Country" tuition?

It doesn't matter if it's for Community College or for Harvard.

 

Same way they qualify for in-country jobs. Their capacity for productivity within our society, in college or at work, precludes the negative impact of their illegal act. Same reason cops don't pull over every single driver that goes over the speed limit, because the positive impact of free flowing traffic precludes the negative impact of illegally driving 56 in a 55.