North Carolina Says No to College for DREAMERS

Of the 300,000 students in the North Carolina Community College System, there are only 100 DREAMERS. The state's Attorney General's attack on these hundred students is wildly out of proportion for the small number affected by the ruling. Is this truly a legal issue or is it an example of pure maliciousness?.

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NC community colleges halt illegal immigrant policy

By ESTES THOMPSON

The Associated Press
Tuesday, May 13, 2008; 6:54 PM
Washington Post

RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina's community college system reversed itself Tuesday and said it will no longer admit illegal immigrants until federal officials formally weigh in on whether it is legal...

The change was supported by Gov. Mike Easley, but it provoked heavy criticism _ especially from the leading candidates running to replace the outgoing governor. That led the nation's third-largest community college system to seek an opinion from the state attorney general's office on whether the admissions policy was legal under federal law.

Attorney General Roy Cooper's office recommended the community colleges drop the lenient admissions policy, and suggested that following stricter guidelines approved in 2001 _ under which illegal immigrants were not eligible for a public post-secondary education _ was more likely to withstand judicial scrutiny.

...Although federal immigration officials last week released a statement saying there is no law prohibiting the state from educating illegal immigrants at public colleges and universities, Cooper's office said that statement is not the same as a legal opinion from the Department of Homeland Security.

"At the community college system's request, we are seeking guidance from the Department of Homeland Security on this admissions policy as it relates to federal law," said spokeswoman Noelle Talley.

...In Arizona, for instance, voters approved a ballot measure that prohibits undocumented immigrants from paying in-state tuition rates, a move that has driven many out of the public education system. A federal bill called "The DREAM Act" that would have given some illegal immigrants legal status to serve in the armed forces or attend college stalled last year in Congress.

Only about 100 of the nearly 300,000 degree-seeking community college students are illegal immigrants in North Carolina. They pay full, out-of-state tuition rates. Those enrolled in degree courses during the 2006-2007 school year may continue their studies, system president R. Scott Ralls said...

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AP Education Writer Justin Pope in Raleigh contributed to this report.

for link to complete AP/WP article click here