Robert Templin, Northern VA Community College PresidentThe State of Virginia, who generally is so unhospitable to immigrants, granted in-state tuition to Ernesto Galeas of Fairfax County. He is in the U.S. on "Temporary Protected Status." Ernesto had tried to enroll multiple times but was told he would have to pay out of state tuition.
While this decision does not provide in-tuition for Virginia's undocumented college students, it is at least a step in right direction for immigrant rights.
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Immigrant students get tuition, aid break
By JUAN ANTONIO LIZAMA
Media General News Service
Potomac News
Friday, August 24, 2007
Virginia immigrant students with temporary protected status are cheering a decision that allows them to establish in-state residence and qualify for lower tuition rates and state financial aid.
"I'm happy, and I have a feeling of satisfaction," said Ernesto Galeas of Burke in Fairfax County, a Salvadoran immigrant who will attend Northern Virginia Community College as an in-state student. He will save about $1,700 this semester, he said.
What is temporary protected status, anyway?
Protected status is given to foreign nationals residing in the United States whose homeland conditions are recognized by the U.S. government as being temporarily unsafe or overly dangerous for them to return.
What was the problem?
Until now, students such as Galeas living in Virginia were considered out-of-state because their immigration status was interpreted as being temporary without the intent to stay in the country.
Protected-status students had to pay out-of-state tuition, which is double or triple what in-state students are charged. That priced many students out of a chance to go to college, some advocates say.
What changed?
In July, the attorney general's office notified the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia that its immigration counsel had advised the council that students with protected status can establish Virginia residence.
What's the reaction in the immigrant community?
"That is good news," said Luis Parada, an attorney with the Washington law firm of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae who has successfully helped some protected-status students appeal for an in-state classification at Northern Virginia Community College.
"I have to give credit to the attorney general's office and [the state council] for conducting an in-depth legal analysis of the situation," Parada said.
How many people are affected?
That's almost impossible to say. Immigrants with protected status do not have to notify the Department of Homeland Security that they are enrolled in college, so the government doesn't have data on how many students the policy change affects. Nationwide, about 318,000 people of all ages have temporary protected status.
So, do protected-status students automatically qualify for in-state tuition and fees?
No, according to Kathleen Kincheloe, spokeswoman for the state council. They have to prove they live in Virginia just as any other student does, she said.
The state council will provide the guidelines, but colleges will have the ultimate decision whether to classify protected-status students as in-state residents.
What happened in Galeas' case?
Galeas came to Fairfax County in 2000 from El Salvador. The federal government granted him protected status a year later.
"One of the basic needs to grow and improve yourself is education," he said.
Galeas, 28, works as Laborers' International Union of North America representative in Local Union 11. He applied to Northern Virginia Community College in the spring to pursue a political science degree, but he was classified as an out-of-state student.
In his appeal, he presented four years of income-tax filings, among other documents, as evidence of Virginia residence. Because of the new ruling, the college reclassified him as an in-state student in July.
What's the view from the top?
Robert G. Templin Jr., president of Northern Virginia Community College, said the change was long overdue.
He said the college last year received applications from about 100 protected-status students, but most could not enroll because they couldn't afford out-of-state tuition.
"SCHEV and the attorney general recognized that these young people are legally in the country, some for a decade or more, have attended school while their families pay taxes, but were denied in-state tuition, and now with this ruling they will pay in-state tuition," Templin said.
Juan Antonio Lizama is a staff writer for Media General's Richmond Times-Dispatch.
http://www.potomacnews.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WPN/MGArticle/WPN_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173352490991&path=
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Temporary Immigrants Granted In-State Tuition
NVCC Student's Challenge Prompts State Ruling
By Karin Brulliard
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 26, 2007; Page C11
Ernesto Galeas, a Salvadoran immigrant, has lived in Virginia for seven years and paid taxes to the state for five. So he was stunned this spring when Northern Virginia Community College denied him in-state tuition and slapped him with a $2,400 bill -- about three times as high as he expected.
The reason, Galeas was told: Immigrants with temporary protected status, which provides a permit to live and work in the United States, are ineligible for the tuition break even if they meet every other requirement.
Galeas fought the decision and got the college and the state's top lawyers to change their minds. As of last month, all Virginia college students with the permit, called TPS, are eligible for the tuition break, officials said.
"This marked a precedent for future students," Galeas said...
Although many states deny in-state tuition to illegal immigrants and those whose visas do not grant long-term stays, such as tourists or foreign students, they often grant it to temporary immigrant workers who meet all other requirements. But most states, including Maryland, do not mention TPS in their guidelines, said Luis Parada, a District-based lawyer who took Galeas's case free of charge.
Virginia's guidelines did not address TPS, said Lee Andes, assistant director for financial aid at the State Council for Higher Education of Virginia. But the Virginia attorney general's office previously interpreted TPS holders as ineligible because their immigration status did not reflect an "intent to remain" in the state, Andes said.
...the change has no implications for illegal immigrants. But it will make a huge difference for TPS holders, he said.
"Denying a student the opportunity to go to college is one of the most unfair and counterproductive things we as a society can do, especially in what should have been a clear-cut case like students with TPS," Parada said. "For a lot of the students, having to pay three times the amount of tuition is the difference between being able to attend college or not."
Galeas said he is among those students. He immigrated illegally in 2000 and was granted TPS the next year...
For complete article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/25/AR2007082501138.html
Photo: Robert Templin, Northern VA Community College President. http://www.nvcc.edu/president/
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