Illegal immigrants face threat of no college

When reading articles like this one, It just tares my heart apart. More and more states are doing everything in their power to stop undocumented students from receiving an education Why can't people understand that this issue is about EDUCATION and not about being "illegal,"(a word that should be banned). What was more horriffying were the comments I read below the article, all were NEGATIVE. People do not understand the real side of the story (please refer to dreamacttexas post The DREAM Act Might Be Dead, But These Kids' Hopes Are Not
June 20, 2008).

Can't they see that these students have graduated school, an accomplished made by choice, a choice that will allow them to become successful in life. They have overcomed extraordinary obstacles and that make them strong people who are capable of being great doctors, scientist, soldiers, teachers, policemen, and social workers. They are not criminals, their parents pay taxes, they are talented people who want to give back to their communities. Texas, the first state to allow in-state tuition rates has garnered much attention for the amount of students who have taken advantage of this opportunity. I hope that in the near future we can prove with facts and statistic the POSITIVE results of allowing undocumented students continue their education. People also need to understand that a person is being halted from receiving an education, isn't that a world-wide right? I want all my friends and family to be educated, all of them! A big shout-out goes to RICK NORIEGA, candidate to the Texas US SENATE.

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Illegal immigrants face threat of no college

By Mary Beth Marklein, USA TODAY

Some states are making it harder for illegal immigrants to attend college by denying in-state tuition benefits or banning undocumented students.

In the past two years, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and Oklahoma have refused in-state tuition benefits to students who entered the USA illegally with their parents but grew up and went to school in the state. That represents a reversal from earlier this decade, when 10 states passed laws allowing in-state rates for such students.

This summer, South Carolina became the first state to bar undocumented students from all public colleges and universities.

North Carolina's community colleges in May ordered its 58 campuses to stop enrolling undocumented students after the state attorney general said admitting them may violate federal law.

"The new trend is to kick illegal aliens out of college altogether," says William Gheen of Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee, which opposes taxpayer subsidies for undocumented immigrants.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Oklahoma Arizona North Carolina Colorado Georgia South Carolina Social Security University of Arkansas National Immigration Law Center William Gheen

Josh Bernstein of the National Immigration Law Center, an illegal-immigrants advocate, says sweeping anti-immigration bills are "a very serious threat" to the overall illegal population.

BLOG: Illegal immigration and college: Is there a middle ground?

Georgia, which barred undocumented students from in-state tuition rates in 2006, enacted laws in May preventing them from receiving state scholarships and certain student loans.
This fall, the University of Arkansas will require students to submit Social Security numbers and proof of residency. In May, Arkansas Department of Higher Education Director Jim Purcell warned that students without documentation "will not be considered as legally enrolled students" when determining an institution's state funding.

Opponents say students shouldn't be penalized for their parents' actions. Helping them is "the right thing to do even if it's unpopular," says North Carolina state Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Democrat who introduced a bill that would prevent state institutions from asking about students' immigration status.

Contributing: Abbott Koloff of the Daily Record, Morris County, N.J.; Andrew Seaman, Katharine Lackey