FLIMEN - Florida College Tuition Subsidy for Illegal Aliens

Despite great odds, FLIMEN and partners for the last four years have prevented College Tuition Subsidy for Illegal Aliens bills from passage in the Florida Legislature, thus saving thousands of college slots for children of citizens and legal permanent residents. More information is available at College Subsidy.

Senator Wilson has filed S366 a College Tuition Subsidy for Illegal Alien bill for the 2006 Session. The House companion bill has not yet been filed but surely will be soon.

by Mac Johnson
Posted Jan 16, 2006

As far as the media is concerned, good news is no news -- especially when the news is good for conservatives. That’s why an absolutely amazing grassroots victory against illegal immigration last week occurred in virtual obscurity.

I didn’t expect a story with far-reaching political implications for the whole nation to get the same kind of front-page coverage that one usually associates with classified anti-terror operations, but even I was surprised at how little attention the upset victory was given. Consider what happened and judge for yourself the importance of the story.

Several months ago, the facilitators and proponents of uncontrolled illegal immigration began a campaign in Massachusetts to make immigration criminals eligible for the in-state tuition rate when attending public colleges in the Commonwealth.

According to Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, this would amount to a taxpayer-funded loss of nearly $9,000 per illegal alien student at the university level.

Under this law, illegal aliens who sneak into Massachusetts would be given more access to state education than United States citizens from the other 49 states --including many in New Hampshire and Rhode Island who’s parents have legally worked in Massachusetts their whole lives.

The law would also, of course, reward people for breaking our federal laws, encourage further illegal immigration, and be yet another step in the de facto stealth amnesty that many politicians are working to gradually effect against the wishes of the actual citizens of the United States.

But despite the bill being a ridiculous piece of pandering and an assault on the rule of law, it was sure to pass. Nine other states have passed such laws already, and this is Massachusetts we’re talking about, after all. In addition to being perhaps the most liberal state in America, Massachusetts is occupied by a surprisingly large number of illegal aliens, who are every bit as vocal as their handlers have trained them to be.

And then there is the Massachusetts legislature to consider. Of the 160 state representatives, a whopping 20 are Republicans. Yup. You read that correctly. If you think a two-party system is frustrating, you should try dealing with a one party system. And just as one might expect of a system in which few representatives will ever face a viable challenger, the legislature of Massachusetts is not very responsive to the concerns of its voters.

So the only question was whether the bill would pass by a large enough margin to override a promised veto from Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, who functions as a sort of living insurance policy to keep the 87% Democrat legislature from entirely seceding from the United States and joining Communist Cuba.

For those opposed to the bill, the weeks before the vote were thus a little like the last moments before a car crash: you’ve obviously lost control of the car and now you just have to watch in slow motion to see exactly how hard you’re going to hit the tree.

But then it happened. A small revolt began. In the crackling electromagnetic hinterlands of talk radio (conservative even in Massachusetts), people began to gather and passions began to rise. Numerous talk-show hosts, foremost among which was Howie Carr of WRKO in Boston, took up the cause in disgust and sparked a surprisingly intense grassroots wildfire.

Apparently, people are sick of the games and the giveaways and the corruption and the pandering associated with illegal immigration.

They are sick of the concept of citizenship being treated as some sort of anachronistic technicality. They are sick of politicians believing they can do anything to get one more vote from illegal interest groups and that the citizens they are supposed to serve will never do anything about it.

And they are sick of working by the rules everyday under the burden of heavy taxation and regulation just to see their money frittered away on the undeserving -- while opportunities for their own children are threatened.

So people -- a lot of people -- began to call and email their representatives and communicate to them how passionately they opposed this silly, corrupt bill.

The response was overwhelming, and politicians finally began to worry more about losing lots of votes from average citizens than about gaining a few extra votes from the criminal alien lobby.

When the final vote came, the bill (H 1230) did not pass by a veto-proof supermajority. It did not pass at all. It was defeated by a crushing 96 to 57 vote. The bill, which had been so assured of passage that it had 54 co-sponsors confidently attach their names to it before the revolt began, could not find more than three additional “yea” votes after the revolt was heard.

When something like this occurs in the most liberal state in the country, despite the best efforts of the one-party machine, the speaker of the House (Sal DiMasi), the Boston Globe, the state attorney general and gubernatorial wannabe (Tom Riley), and the other anointed elites, a turning point has been reached. Such an event has national political implications.

"America is fighting for its sovereignty today”, argued Rep. Marie Parente, a Democrat from Milford, explaining her vote against the bill. Consider how far we have come when Pat Buchanan’s words begin coming out of a Massachusetts Democrat’s mouth. They probably agree on nothing else, but they are both firmly in the new mainstream on this point.

The canary in the illegal immigration mine just died. When enough people speak, even politicians begin to get it. There is hope.

I just thought you should know. And it’s not like you are going to be told this story in the New York Times.

Mr. Johnson, a writer and medical researcher in Cambridge, MA., is a regular contributor to Human Events. His column generally appears on Mondays. Archives and additional material can be found at www.macjohnson.com.

Undocumented students face financial hurdle to college education

DENISE KALETTE

Associated Press

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - When Fabiola Guevara graduated from South Dade Senior High School in June, 11 years after her mother fled with her from Mexico, she had nearly a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

Her dream was to enroll in a state university nursing program, but she didn't even apply. Guevara couldn't afford higher education.

Like thousands of other illegal immigrant students, Guevara was ineligible for college financial aid. And it would cost triple what legal Florida residents pay, impossible on her mother's houskeeper wages, to attend a public university because undocumented students don't qualify for in-state tuition discounts.

"When I started high school, it never hit me that when I graduated, I had no place to go," said Guevara, who is 17. "I studied here all my life. What am I supposed to do with the rest of my life? Work as a housekeeper? Pick beans in the fields?"

Federal law prohibits illegal immigrant students from receiving government-backed loans and grants to attend college. The law, which was part of 1996 immigration reforms, also discourages states from providing these students with in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities.

But lawmakers in Congress have proposed legislation to help students like Guevara. The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, more commonly known as the DREAM ACT, would allow undocumented students who arrived in the U.S. before they turned 16 and have lived here at least five years to become temporary legal residents, making them eligible for college financial aid and other benefits.

Florida also is moving to join other states with huge illegal immigrant populations - such as California, New York and Texas - that allow in-state tuition rates for undocumented students. A bill, introduced in October and scheduled for committee consideration in March, would offer in-state rates to undocumented students who attended Florida schools at least three years and agree to seek permanent U.S. resident status.

Across the country, an estimated 65,000 to 90,000 high school seniors who graduate each year - including some 4,000 from Florida - face the same dilemma as Guevara. As children, they migrated to America illegally with their parents but find their college and career ambitions blocked by their illegal status.

"The children that are here should not be punished for the sins of their parents," said Hector M. Flores, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, the country's oldest and largest Hispanic civil rights organization. "They are the children that are going to give us the competitive edge."

As high school seniors who are among an estimated 1.7 million undocumented children under 18 graduate, many abandon higher education - and career plans - because they cannot afford college, said David Hawkins, director of public policy for the National Association for college Admission Counseling, a Virginia-based association that represents 9,000 secondary school and university counselors and financial aid officers.

"They're stuck in a limbo where they can't get formal employment and they can't go on to college," Hawkins said. "At best, they become part of the underground economy. At worst they become a liability." Some turn to crime, he said.

The DREAM Act, which is sponsored by Sens. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind., has been introduced with each Congress since 2001 but has never passsed. It faces a difficult battle amid congressional concern over national security and illegal immigration.

Flores and other advocates for undocumented students hope the bipartisan bill will be more successful than in previous years because the Bush administration and Congress are now pushing hard for immigration reform.

Foreign-born students could potentially fill teaching and nursing jobs, addressing a shortage that grows more critical as baby boomers retire, Flores said. Texas needs 10,000 bilingual Spanish-English teachers and California needs 20,000, he said.

Like the federal bill, the state legislation proposed by Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, has been introduced before - 2005 marked the fourth year. The bill is scheduled for consideration this spring. Wilson compares the fight with a civil-rights issue.

"These children are being penalized. It's no fault of theirs that they're not citizens," she said. Many were brought to the United States by their parents when they were as young as five or six, and worked hard for years in U.S. public schools.

"I think we owe them. They have a right. They want to be somebody. It's reminiscent of many civil rights battles that I as an African American had to fight," Wilson said.

A stream of students beseech counselors at Miami Dade College to allow them entry at in-state rates, said Jose A. Vicente, president of Miami Dade North Campus. Typical in-state tuition is about $2,000 per year, while out-of-state tuition is $6,000, he said.

"These are kids whose English is flawless. There are cases when we have had valedictorians, very high ranking students, and still they are required to pay out of state tuition, with no scholarships," Vicente said. He said some have "broken down in tears" when told they have to prove they are U.S. citizens or legal residents.

Fabiola Guevara cannot forget the shame she felt as she hid her undocumented status from other seniors and tried to share their happiness when they were accepted at college.

But Guevara, who spends her days baby-sitting her cousin, won't have to wait for changes by Congress or the Florida Legislature to pursue her dreams. Her mother's remarriage to an American has made her eligible to pursue legal status, a nursing degree and her eventual goal of becoming a doctor.

Oscar Rosales, 18, a senior at South Dade, has not been so fortunate. His mother emigrated from Honduras 10 years ago, after his father died, and there is little chance he can study computer programming as he wishes. He dropped soccer to tend plants in a nursery part time, and after graduation plans to labor in construction with his brother.