About two years ago I visited Rep. Leo Berman to talk to him and put a face to the issue. I wasn't the face but others who joined me from Houston were, unfortunately he wasn't there, we left a packet of information and never heard of him until now... I am just disgusted with this mans' attitude toward education.
It's about Education. Education. Education.
Leave our students alone!
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TX: Undocumented Immigrants' Tuition Waiver Is Questioned
El Paso Times, October 2, 2008
By Brandi Grissom
AUSTIN -- A North Texas legislator wants the state's top attorney to rule on the constitutionality of a law that allows undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates."If we're in violation of United States law, then we need to correct that," said Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler.
Last month, a panel of judges in California ruled that a similar law in that state violated the 1996 Immigration Act, which prohibits affording noncitizen students a benefit for which U.S. citizen students are ineligible.
In a letter to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, Berman asked whether Texas was violating the same provision."It's an important issue because we're a nation of laws, aren't we?" Berman said. "And we've got to obey our laws if we're a nation of laws."
Texas, in 2001, was the first state to enact a law that allows undocumented immigrants to pay less expensive in-state tuition.
It allows students to pay the lower rate if they graduated from high school or received a GED in Texas, have lived in the state for three years, and sign an affidavit verifying they are seeking legal residency.Critics say that the law is one more benefit that encourages illegal immigration and that it is unfair to citizens from other states who must pay higher tuition rates.
Proponents of the law say it protects the investment Texas has already made in educating the children of undocumented immigrants and it allows them to contribute to the economy."As a state, we've benefited greatly from the minds and talent of immigrants at our universities," said state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso.
Luis Figueroa, legislative attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said Texas law did not violate the Constitution or federal law and that the California ruling was being appealed."They should let the court rule and go through its process before making any interpretations that will become moot or meaningless," Figueroa said.
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