Houston Area Liberty Campaign

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Texas colleges and universities are in murky legal waters when they give instate tuition to illegal aliens while discriminating against US citizens [1], according to an opinion issued by the Texas Attorney General on July 27th.

I wanted to pass along this good news resulting from the tireless work of patriotic State Rep. Leo Berman, who kept pushing when others might have given up:

http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20090725/NEWS08/907250314

Contact Representative Berman here to pass along your thanks:

http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist6/berman.php

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Illegal Immigrants May Pay Full Tuition Price

By ADAM RUSSELL
Staff Writer

Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, said he has won a battle against illegal immigrants within the state regarding in-state tuition benefits with an opinion rendered Thursday night (July 27th) by the state attorney general’s office.

Berman said despite his struggles to push immigration legislation during the recently convened legislative session, an opinion he filed more than a year ago will begin addressing benefits reserved for citizens.

It means at least we have won one case finally,” he said. “We tried to pass a lot of (immigration) bills this past session, and they were denied because of an agreement that was made with the Democrats at the beginning of the session not to hear any bills dealing with illegal aliens.”

One of the bills would have repealed in-state tuition benefits for undocumented immigrants, he said, but died along with other legislation.

Berman said a federal law established in 1996, filed by U.S. Congressman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, states “if a state gives in-state tuition to illegal aliens, it must provide the same for anyone regardless of where they live.”

The attorney general’s office was asked by Berman to rule on “whether the state of Texas may permit unauthorized aliens to receive the benefit of in-state tuition at Texas state colleges and universities.” Berman said it is his understanding, as explained personally by Attorney General Greg Abbott, that “if Texas courts follow the law, in-state tuition for illegal aliens can not be granted.”

Berman said a lawsuit will be required to implement the ruling and that the Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas (IROCT), which promotes the enforcement of immigration laws, is working to formally introduce suit against either the State of Texas or an individual university system.

Attorney David Rogers, who works with IRCOT, said he could not comment on any legal action against the state or possible litigants but that they are “very interested in the opinion.”

He said a state statute under Texas’ Education Code allows illegal residents to receive in-state tuition benefits, though it is against federal law.

Texas Education Code qualifies those eligible for in-state tuition to universities as those who “graduated from a public or private high school in this state or received the high school equivalent,” “maintained residency continuously” for “three years preceding the date of graduation or receipt of diploma equivalent” or the “year preceding the census date of the academic term in which the person is enrolled in an institution of higher education.”

Fall 2006 classification numbers by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board showed “institutions estimated that 2,859, or 79.9 percent of 3,577 students who submitted affidavits, were undocumented students.” Fall 2008 institution survey numbers estimated that 8,189 students out of 1,144,327 or .72 percent of total fall enrollment for universities, health-related institutions and two-year colleges were undocumented.

The numbers do not indicate whether undocumented students paid out of state or in-state tuition fees.

“I think probably all of those undocumented people who under federal law are not eligible for in-state tuition but under state law are, in fact, getting in-state tuition,” Rogers said.

Berman said Hispanic legislators are knowingly funneling millions of dollars to illegal aliens in the state and that he has made and will continue to make every effort to stop them.

“In-state tuition is charged to people who are residents of Texas,” he said. “If you come from another country and are a student in Texas legally, you probably pay twice as much or if you are in Texas and a resident of Oklahoma, you would probably pay twice as much. In-state tuition is a benefit which accrues only to residents of Texas and what the attorney general is saying is only residents of Texas who are not illegal aliens.”

The Peter Morrison Report

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PO Box 8742, Lumberton, TX 77657, USA

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[1] Texas is one among eleven states that give in-state tuition to illegal immigrants:  California, Utah, Washington, New York, Oklahoma, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico & Nebraska.