Religious leaders, political officials, immigrant activists and community members formed a coalition advocating for equal opportunity for higher education for immigrant students, and on Tuesday this policy was adopted. Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley signed off on legislation that offers in-state tuition opportunities to illegal immigrant students of Maryland. Prior to receiving in-state tuition these students must receive an associate's degree from a local community college, have graduated from a Maryland high school, provide proof their parents are state taxpayers, and express intent to become a citizen. If all of these stipulations are met these students have the opportunity to pay in-state tuition for Maryland state colleges regardless of citizenship status. Maryland is the only state this year to pass a bill extending benefits to illegal immigrants. In Maryland, opponents have already started mobilizing and gathering petition signatures to get a referendum on the law for various reasons.
Some of the opposition to this legislation is the fear that undocumented students will be prompted to apply and crowd out others while competing with other Marylanders at state universities. Prior to the bill being signed similar bills were shutdown by communities and local officials in other states for some of these same reasons. Mostly because of this same fear of immigrants and their affect on other students. Now that the bill has been signed by Governor O'Malley the participation process has begun and the opponents are speaking out. Opponents of the bill have until June 30 to collect more than 55,000 signatures needed to hold a public vote on the law.
Proponents of this bill say that allowing illegal immigrants to continue their education by paying in-state tuition at Maryland state schools is the right thing to do for our people and our country. O'Malley's labor secretary, Alex Sanchez stated that "we should not allow our nation's broken immigration system to serve as an excuse to escape our basic, moral obligation to expand opportunity for all Marylanders." For many of these individuals in-state tuition discounts would mean the difference between going to college or not going to college because these students are not eligible for aid or scholarships making affording school near impossible.
With all of these philosophies there are many debates that can be made regarding this policy. In public policy whenever someone wins someone loses. In this case if this bill was not made law then the obvious losing side are the immigrant students. These high school students who may or may not have chosen to come to the US and simply want the opportunity to achieve higher education could lose their chance because of lack of finances. The winners would be the opponents of this bill who feel that allowing illegal immigrants in-state tuition infringes upon their citizenship and threatens Maryland students. If the bill was signed into law these immigrant students have a great educational opportunity to attend top state schools for a reduced price, but who really loses in this case. Does allowing illegal immigrant students to pay in-state tuition really threaten Maryland resident students? Is the opposition to this bill simply based on fear or is it bad public policy for our society? These questions can continue to be debated and we should keep an eye on how this bill plays out. You can read more about this bill and the Washington post article here
--Krystal
Proponents of this bill say that allowing illegal immigrants to continue their education by paying in-state tuition at Maryland state schools is the right thing to do for our people and our country. O'Malley's labor secretary, Alex Sanchez stated that "we should not allow our nation's broken immigration system to serve as an excuse to escape our basic, moral obligation to expand opportunity for all Marylanders." For many of these individuals in-state tuition discounts would mean the difference between going to college or not going to college because these students are not eligible for aid or scholarships making affording school near impossible.
With all of these philosophies there are many debates that can be made regarding this policy. In public policy whenever someone wins someone loses. In this case if this bill was not made law then the obvious losing side are the immigrant students. These high school students who may or may not have chosen to come to the US and simply want the opportunity to achieve higher education could lose their chance because of lack of finances. The winners would be the opponents of this bill who feel that allowing illegal immigrants in-state tuition infringes upon their citizenship and threatens Maryland students. If the bill was signed into law these immigrant students have a great educational opportunity to attend top state schools for a reduced price, but who really loses in this case. Does allowing illegal immigrant students to pay in-state tuition really threaten Maryland resident students? Is the opposition to this bill simply based on fear or is it bad public policy for our society? These questions can continue to be debated and we should keep an eye on how this bill plays out. You can read more about this bill and the Washington post article here
--Krystal
Great post Krystal.
ReplyDeleteI think this is going to be one of those never-ending debates where there is going to be a real battle to maintain the status-quo where possible.
I do think that some of the opposition to the bill is legitimate. Some folks are just wary of what they perceive as a slow encroachment upon their rights as citizens by those who haven't earned it.
As an immigrant I understand.
However, there is a real problem, that requires a real solution. It really appears that O'Malley tried to be as measured about this as he could and built safe-guards in to make the implementation of this new legislation as fair as possible.
When it all boils down to it, these are children involved, many of whom had no say on what part of what country they ended up in.
I think the upside to them having a fair shot at an education far outweighs the downside of them not being educated.
Enjoyed this article.