Each year, roughly 65,000 students who came to the United States illegally graduate from high school, according to the Immigration Policy Center. For such students, finding an affordable path to college can be more difficult than for their American peers, and that path may differ drastically by state.
Nineteen states now allow students who meet certain requirements — such as having attended a high school in the state for a number of years — to pay in-state tuition rates instead of higher out-of-state rates, according to the National Immigration Law Center. In seven of those states, such students are eligible for state grant aid.
Across the country, the state of college affordability for students who entered the country illegally is in flux. In several states, some lawmakers have introduced legislation that, if enacted, would repeal some of those benefits. In response, students and their advocates are lobbying against the bills — or proposing their own.
Students who were brought to the United States in the 1990s as children are now old enough to leave the security of a free high-school education, said Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco, dean of the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California at Los Angeles. Now they are old enough to acknowledge their place in the world, he said, and they want to fight for it.
To provide a snapshot of the debate, The Chronicle focused on four states, chosen with input from immigration experts, where access to college benefits could change for students who immigrated illegally. Here’s where things stand, and where they may be headed:
Texas
Current benefits: in-state tuition (enacted 2001) and financial aid (enacted 2005)
What could change: Several Texas politicians have introduced bills this session that would repeal the students’ access to either in-state tuition or state aid.
Key players: Jonathan Stickland, a Republican in the Texas House of Representatives, introduced a bill last November. It would bar immigrant students from qualifying for in-state tuition by altering Texas’ residency requirements.
"The key is stopping all the magnets and incentives that are bringing illegal immigrants to Texas," Mr. Stickland told The Chronicle. "This bill is about cutting off these magnets and putting Texas children first."
Karla Q. Perez, president of the Youth Empowerment Alliance at the University of Houston, said she had joined more than 170 people who testified during an April 6 subcommittee hearing on a similar bill. It ultimately moved on to the full committee.
"We worry," she said, that if benefits for immigrant students are pulled back in Texas, "then it may lead the way for other states to repeal their in-state tuition as well."
Important date: June 21 is the last day that Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, can sign or veto any bills passed this session. Mr. Abbott has said he "would not veto" any repeal efforts.
What an expert thinks: Tanya Broder, senior attorney at the National Immigration Law Center, said she thought that educational benefits for Texas’ undocumented population continued to have bipartisan support, and that legislators would be reluctant to dismantle "this very popular and very successful policy."
What’s next: As June 21 approaches, Ms. Perez said, she and her fellow advocates will be busy lobbying.
Kansas
Current benefit: in-state tuition (enacted 2004)
What could change: A bill introduced in late January would eliminate in-state tuition for immigrants who entered the United States illegally.
Key players: Secretary of State Kris W. Kobach — a longtime opponent of illegal immigration — has expressed support for the bill. He says Kansas has been violating the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. The federal law dictates that, on the basis of state residency, an unauthorized immigrant may not receive postsecondary education benefits. (States have worked around that policy by wording legislation to say immigrants are eligible based on requirements like high-school graduation, not residency, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.)
The bill introduced in January would "bring Kansas into compliance with federal law," Mr. Kobach told The Chronicle.
Advocates with Sunflower Community Action, an organization based in Wichita, began contacting members of the state’s education committee to try to persuade them to drop it, said Sulma D. Arias, the group’s executive director.
Carolina Y. Hernandez is a freshman at Wichita State University who is protected under President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which grants eligible students who were brought to the United States illegally as children a temporary reprieve from deportation. She said she works three jobs to help pay the in-state tuition at Wichita State — and would consider dropping out if the benefit were repealed.
"It’s really frustrating," she said. "Our community can never advance because we’re always so busy fighting against all these bills instead of moving forward."
Important date: The Kansas education committee tabled the bill on March 19.
What an expert thinks: Ms. Broder said Kansas’ current tuition-equity law had withstood several attempts to eliminate it, and would continue to do so.
What’s next: Because the bill was tabled, its future is uncertain. Ms. Arias and Mr. Kobach both said it’s too soon to predict the bill’s future, but Mr. Kobach said that "some version of it will pass eventually."
Connecticut
Current benefit: in-state tuition (enacted 2011)
What could change: Members of Connecticut Students for a Dream, a statewide immigrant-advocacy organization, are working with state lawmakers to pass a bill called the Including New Voices, Educating Students Today Act, known as the Invest Act, which contains a request to expand access to institutional and state aid.
Key players: The State Senate's president, Martin M. Looney, a Democrat, introduced a bill in January that would allow beneficiaries of Mr. Obama’s deferred-action program to receive some financial assistance like institutional aid.
Members of Connecticut Students for a Dream tried to get the Invest Act introduced on its own this year, but were not successful. They have since started working with Mr. Looney’s staff to combine their legislation with his, said Lucas Codognolla, the group’s lead coordinator. They hope Mr. Looney’s influence in the Senate could give their legislation a stronger push.
"Our goal is to have financial-aid access be equalized for all students in Connecticut, regardless of immigration status," Mr. Codognolla said.
Important date: At the end of March, a version of Mr. Looney’s bill advanced through the higher-education committee with favorable remarks.
What an expert thinks: Ms. Broder said it was promising that several political leaders — including Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat — had expressed support for tuition equity. "I think the prospects are good," she said.
What’s next: On April 8 the bill was placed on the Senate’s calendar. Both Mr. Looney and Mr. Codognolla said they were hopeful. "It’s important because these students are part of the fabric of the future of Connecticut," Mr. Looney told The Chronicle.
New York
Current benefit: in-state tuition (enacted 2002)
What could change: Make the Road New York, an advocacy organization, is pushing for the passage of the New York Dream Act, a bill that has been introduced before, without success. One of its proposals is to expand the state’s tuition-assistance program to help all immigrant students, said Mateo Tabares, a youth organizer for Make the Road.
Key players: In an effort to appeal to both political parties, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, proposed linking the Dream Act to an education tax credit. Torn over whether to support that idea, lawmakers decided not to include it in Mr. Cuomo’s executive budget.
Make the Road members spent the last days of March working with legislators to adjust the language of Mr. Cuomo’s proposal and rally support for the Dream Act.
"It’s been super-draining," Mr. Tabares said. "We’ve been in calls until 11 p.m., having these really hard conversations."
Important date: April 1 was the deadline for the governor to finalize his budget, and the Dream Act was not in it.
"I support both deeply," Mr. Cuomo said of the two measures at a news conference in March. But with legislators in a stalemate, "it was pointless to include it in the budget."
What an expert thinks: Despite recent events, Ms. Broder said there was time left in the session to discuss the bill. "There’s no reason why it couldn’t go forward," she said.
What’s next: Francisco P. Moya, a Democrat in the State Assembly and lead sponsor of the Dream Act, has called on Mr. Cuomo to bring Republicans to a discussion about the bill. "We are pressing ahead with our efforts to pass the Dream Act this year," he said in a statement to The Chronicle.
Read more at The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/article/Immigrant-Students-Fight-to/229341