No more illegal aliens in NC Colleges

Submitted by Rick Honcho on Wednesday, 14 May 20082 Comments

North Carolina’s 58 community colleges will no longer allow illegal immigrants to enroll, officials said Tuesday.

The move follows an advisory letter issued a week ago by the state Attorney General’s Office recommending that community colleges tighten their admissions standards to be more in line with federal laws.

“We asked the Attorney General’s Office for clarification of our present policy and will abide by their advice,” Community College System President R. Scott Ralls said in a statement. “Until we receive further clarification, we will no longer admit individuals classified as illegal or undocumented immigrants into curriculum degree programs.”

The system last fall began admitting any illegal immigrant who was at least 18 years old and a high school graduate. Gov. Mike Easley said last week that he supported that policy, noting federal law doesn’t clearly outline when illegal immigrants can attend community college.

A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also said last week federal law didn’t preclude colleges from admitting illegal immigrants.

The Attorney General’s Office has agreed to ask federal officials to clarify rules regarding illegal immigrants and college enrollment.

Of the nearly 300,000 curriculum students in community colleges statewide, 112 are illegal immigrants, according to the latest state figures. Twenty-seven of the 200,000 students in the University of North Carolina system are illegal immigrants.

All of the illegal immigrants pay out-of-state tuition at both UNC and community college campuses.

Community college officials said illegal immigrants who are already enrolled would be allowed to finish their studies and earn degrees.

2 Comments »

Robbie said:

It’s a good start.

- 14 May 2008 at 9:06 am

zeezil said:

WHY ADMITTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO COLLEGES IS BAD PUBLIC POLICY

North Carolina Attorney General, Roy Cooper, has just issued a directive that North Carolina colleges should abide by federal immigration law and not admit illegal aliens. The community college system has complied but the state universities, notorious hot beds of liberalism, are dragging their feet.

According to estimates, the previous open door policy in North Carolina of allowing illegal aliens to attend community colleges would cost taxpayers between $6 million and $8 million. If that program expanded (more illegal alien students than anticipated), costs will increase. http://www.jwpcivitasinstitute.org/media/publication-archive/fact-sheet/fact-sheet-n-c-community-colleges-and-immigration

The previous policy – in violation of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act – encouraged and induced illegal immigration by providing illegal immigrants with a taxpayer-subsidized education. By preparing illegal immigrants to enter North Carolina’s workforce, the previous policy also ignored the fact that under the Immigration and Nationality Act it is illegal to employ an illegal alien.

The directive issued by Governor Easley and carried out by Martin Lancaster (Community College President, at that time) in November 2007 asks taxpayers to subsidize the education of undocumented aliens who are not in the country legally and cannot legally work in North Carolina or in the United States.

This plan charged illegal immigrants with out-of-state tuition. On average, out-of-state tuition covers only 50 percent to 70 percent of the total costs of education.

Alternative figures released by the community college system regarding the costs to educate an out-of-state student do not include capital costs. According to the North Carolina Community College System Fact Book: http://www.ncccs.cc.nc.us/Publications/docs/Publications/fb2007.pdf , tuition funds comprise only 12.5 percent of total community college operating expenses. State and local funds – i.e., state and local taxpayers – comprise 82 percent of all funding for the community college system.

In 2005, legislation to grant illegal immigrants in-state-tuition was considered by the North Carolina General Assembly. According to Civitas’ April 2007 DecisionMaker Poll ( http://old.jwpcivitasinstitute.org/keylinks/Polls/2007-April-Poll.pdf ), 70 percent of voters oppose giving illegal immigrants in-state tuition.

Here’s examples as to where the misguided and unlawful policy of allowing illegal aliens into colleges can lead:

In 2001, Texas granted in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. In 2005, Texas reported a 900 percent increase in enrollment of illegal immigrants in state higher education institutions and community colleges.

In comparison, California likely has more than double the number of illegal immigrants enrolled in state colleges and universities than Texas. According to a recent Legislative Analysis Office report, there are up to 20,000 immigrant students in California receiving waivers from the state for tuition, both legal and illegal. The report said that about 90 percent of the immigrant students in California’s Community College system alone are undocumented. This means that there could be as many as 18,000 illegal immigrants enrolled in California State University, University of California and community colleges receiving heavily subsidized in-state tuition rates at the cost to the taxpayer of about $117 million per year. http://www.californiachronicle.com/articles/48870

- 16 May 2008 at 7:31 am