SB 1037: In-State Tuition for Illegal Immigrants

Virginia senate has passed a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition provided they have graduated from a Virginia high school and have lived in the Commonwealth at least three years at the date of graduation (or one year if the student is on active duty with the US military).  Additionally, the students must be actively seeking legal status and must have paid Virginia income taxes for at least three years (or have a legal guardian who has paid taxes if the student is a recent high school graduate). 

 

Aside from the normal objections that are raised to giving illegal immigrants any type of benefits or rights whatsoever, let’s look at the practicality of this bill.  First of all, let’s deal with the provisions outlined.  As for allowing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants who have served or are serving on active duty in the US military, this shouldn’t be a consideration at all as illegal immigrants cannot serve.  In order to serve on active duty one must reside in the United States legally, either as a citizen or through an immigration program.  That requirement is a waste of time, ink and paper. 

 

The student must have paid taxes for three years prior to receiving in-state tuition.  Acknowledging the fact that all over the country there is a growing trend among illegal immigrants to file taxes to prove their good will and positive intentions, one must wonder how many illegal immigrants have actually risked identifying themselves through the process of tax filing.  So…how many students are we really talking about here?  This is just more waste of ink, paper and time. 

 

And…just when I was getting warmed up, I have to point out that I, too, through the above discussion, have squandered even more of your valuable time by pointing out those little oddities.  That’s because of the itsy bitsy federal law that makes all prior discussion irrelevant.  Federal law prohibits states from offering any type of higher education benefit to an illegal immigrant that is not offered to all United States citizens. Please see Federal Law Title 8, Chapter 14, Sec 1623:

 

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an alien who is not
    lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the
    basis of residence within a State (or a political subdivision) for
    any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of
    the United States is eligible for such a benefit (in no less an
    amount, duration, and scope) without regard to whether the citizen
    or national is such a resident.

 

So…unless the Commonwealth is prepared to pick up the hefty out-of-state portion of tuition that is paid by all students who are US citizens but not Virginia residents while attending the fine colleges and Universities that we have in order to be in compliance with federal law, they better prepare instead to face litigation from those same out-of-state, legal patrons.  That’s a lot of dough spent through off-set tuition or litigation, whichever path is chosen, when some Virginia schools have as many as 75% of their students paying out-of-state rates (search percentage of out-of-state students by University at collegetoolkit.com).

 

California had similar legislation allowing in-state rates for illegal immigrants.  That was until the California Court of Appeals ruled (September 08 ) that the law was in direct conflict with the 1996 Immigration Act cited above, and also with the equal protection clause of the Constitution.  Kansas, New York and Texas, three of the nine other states who currently offer in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants, are currently facing formal charges filed by the Washington Legal Foundation due to the same federal conflicts that caused California to overturn their statute.

 

WHY, regardless of our individual opinions on the illegal immigrant situation in our country, are we allowing our elected officials to draft legislation that is inconsistent with reality and in direct opposition to federal law?  Last I heard our Commonwealth was in a serious budget crisis that has had a significant impact on all areas of state funding and responsibility, and particularly to my interest, it has and continues to effect the funding of our public schools.  Can someone explain to me how it is that at any point, but especially given the current budget status in the Commonwealth, our state senate is opening us up to this type of legal/financial nightmare?  We are not in a financial position to get into a state’s rights contest with the federal government.  Wake up, Richmond.