PT-LawMom

While Virginia is trying to pass a bill to withdraw state funding from charities that provide aid to undocumented immigrants , Maryland is trying to pass a law to give these same immigrants in-state tuition benefits . I’ve already blogged about the abhorrently unfair nature of the Virginia legislation but I think the Maryland legislation is less clear-cut. On the one hand, the MD/DC/VA area has a high concentration of immigrants, both documented and undocumented. A large percentage of the undocumented work several jobs, may even own a house, and therefore contribute to the economy through their payroll and property taxes. If they’re paying into the taxes that support the state education system, then perhaps it makes sense for them to receive in-state tuition. On the other hand, international students are forced to pay out-of-state tuition because they haven’t proven legal residency. If international students can’t get past the residency barrier for their entire education as long as they are on student visas, I think that perhaps undocumented students should be held to the same standard.

It is a tough question, especially if you argue that these children shouldn’t be held responsible for their parents’ actions as minors (i.e., they should be allowed to attend public schools and get healthcare). The question as I see it is what happens after these kids graduate from these state universities. Do they get an employer to sponsor them for a work visa? Under the current laws, they’d have a hard time avoiding the “leave, apply in your home country, and don’t come back for 10 years if you didn’t enter legally” rule. I think that when the cities and states try to come up with their own remedies, it just muddles things and ultimately hurts more than it helps.

According to New America Media,

The Supreme Court has ruled that immigrants have a right to an education regardless of citizenship. Undocumented graduates, however, cannot work legally in the United States.

With the job market closed to them, some soon-to-be graduates are finding reasons to prolong their college education. The hope, according to Horacio Arroyo, a youth organizer with the Coalition on Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, is that the law might change in the near future, making it easier for these students to naturalize and enter the work force.

Hopefully if I am able to study immigration law and learn more about the constantly changing federal laws, all of this will make more sense. In the meantime, I’m just blogging off the cuff on the latest news and my random thoughts.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 at 9:12 pm and is filed under Immigration . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.