From the office of Sen. J.B. Jennings:
In-state tuition for illegal immigration is certainly not a new issue in Maryland. In 2003, the General Assembly passed a bill (HB253) that not only entitled illegal immigrants to in-state tuition rates but also expanded the scope to United States military personnel and their children. Then former Governor Bob Ehrlich vetoed the bill, preventing it from becoming law. Of course, that didn’t stop my fellow legislators from reintroducing this issue year after year.
As a delegate, I remember sitting in the House Ways and Means committee nearly three years ago listening to lawmakers, special interest groups, and Maryland citizens lobbying for and against the bill. Fortunately, it never made it out of committee for a vote. Yet this bill’s advocates continue to push the issue, and here we are again.
My position on this topic has not waivered, not even once. Plainly said, I’m against it. This legislation would entitle illegal immigrants to in-state tuition rates in the state of Maryland, despite the fact that they are clearly not residents. In fact, not only are they not residents of our state, they are not residents of our great nation. To allow them the same rights we grant to citizens and legal immigrants is to enable and reward poor decisions and illegal activity.
The other issue this raises is the fact that these illegal immigrants would essentially be taking seats in a classroom away from taxpaying residents. It’s hard enough to get into college, especially in the state of Maryland where our schools are top rate. Competition is fierce. What would we be saying to our young people by taking hard-earned admissions away from them and giving them to people who are breaking the law?
Technically speaking, federal immigration law prohibits illegal immigrants from obtaining a postsecondary education benefit. However, certain states have found loopholes in the law. Several state legislatures have successfully enacted legislation that provides these benefits for illegal immigrants based on where a student went to high school, not immigration status. Ironically, at least four have since considered repealing such legislation. A little buyer’s remorse, perhaps?
The question remains: why are so many states and legislators so adamant about enacting these entitlements for lawbreakers? Why do they insist on going against the very fiber of our constitution, the fabric of our laws? We should be focusing our time and efforts on enforcing our laws, not helping people get around them.
What the senator stated in his article is an illegal immigrant who attended and graduated from public school should not be permitted to attend college. Since these students are not going to be shipped back to where their parents came from, what are these students going to do to benefit society if they are not permitted to attend college?
The question the senator does not want to ask is, “Who is going in the future pay our social security and income taxes — an illegal immigrant child who has been educated in our public schools or a retired senior! The answer to this question is obvious.
The elected officials in Maryland passed law years ago that anyone over 60 can go to college without paying any tuition. The purpose was to keep seniors stimulated and entertained. The effect was community colleges lose a lot of money giving a free education to people who are not going to use it to benefit society.
What is keeping students out of college today is the high costs. In the past states supported colleges. Today, this support has been decreased. The result is students graduate today with a large amount of student loans they have to pay back.
What is keeping students out of college is elected officials like senator Jennings who do not want to tax those who can afford to pay more taxes to support the government.
I would like senator Jennings to answer two questions.
1.How does he plan to ship illegal immigrate children who graduated from high school back to where their parents came from?
2. Why seniors need a free education paid for by my taxes?!
Thank you Senator Jennings for taking the high road and sticking to your principles! I would like to think that my children who are legal US and MD citizens will be able to continue to contribute and benefit our society BECAUSE they were able to take advantage of college and did not lose their seat to an illegal immigrant.
No I am not so callous that I do not feel for these children who have lived here nearly their entire life albeit illegally. I understand they want a better life, unfortunately they just have to pay a little more for it-something called out of State tuition. Let’s face it if any of us were living in another Country illegally we wouldn’t even have this option. I have no problem with them attending college, but feel they should not get in state tuition. IF we pass this legislation…do you have any idea how many students would suddenly move to MD to graduate from HS here just to qualify for this benefit? Our public school system could potentially get more over burdened.
If Maryland doesn’t take a hard stance on this we are headed towards the same path as California…and we will be even more broke than we are now and our teachers will have to take IOU’s as pay checks.
As far as the prior comment re: the Seniors and free tuition, I was not aware of this and would like to know the stats as to how many truly take advantage of this benefit. Anyone know this?
the legislation applies to maryland high schools graduates only.
I am completly confused, if these students are illegal where will they work when they get their degrees??? Or are we preparing them for amnesty. Our soldiers don’t even get in state tuition when they attend schools wherever they’re stationed…I know the military pays for their classes if they pass them…but I’m just saying!