In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens Headed to Debate

The college quadrangle could be the next immigration battleground.

State Sens. Martin Looney and Edith Prague, both Democrats, co-sponsored bill number S.B. 40, which would allow children of undocumented immigrant aliens to qualify for in-state tuition.

In the legislators' words, the law is designed “to increase access to higher education for immigrant children and thereby improve quality of Connecticut workforce.”

Under the proposed statute, qualifying children must reside in Connecticut and have finished at least four years of high school level education in the state, register as an entering student or enroll at a public institution of higher education.

The proposal has struck a nerve in the ever-sensitive area of immgration, sparking heated debate among legislators as words such as "fear mongering," "unfair" and "flawed" emerge.

“The venomous anti-immigration rhetoric we’re hearing has no place. It’s not productive. Let’s call it what it is: fear mongering,” said state Rep. William Tong, a Democrat who represents Stamford and New Canaan in the 147th House District.

UConn has a Stamford campus and Tong said illegal residents contribute to the student body as much as legal residents. Total in-state tuition is $8,664 compared to $25,128 for out-of-state tuition that includes university and student fees.

Opponents argue extending in-state tuition for the undocumented is flat-out wrong.

“They themselves are here illegally. It raises a lot of issues,” said state Sen. Toni Boucher, a Republican who represents Bethel, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, Westport and Wilton in the 26th Senate District.

First, Boucher said, it takes away spots from citizens and legal aliens. As it is, the current economy means many families can’t send their children to private or public universities, said Boucher, a ranking member on the Education Committee.

But even if, hypothetically speaking, the state granted in-state tuition to these students, they are still here illegally and so can't get hired anyway, she said.

“As a matter of fairness, in-state tuition should be for illegal immigrants. But let’s really address the problem,” Boucher said. “You’ve got to go to the root of the problem, which is citizenship. That’s what the debate is about.”

That’s nonsense, according to Tong.

“These kids have nothing to do with being here. Their parents brought them here and they had no say in the matter,” Tong said, adding he would vote in favor of the bill.

Moreover, Tong said, the bill wouldn’t apply to many students. Considering the number of undocumented students in the state, and the fact that a candidate would have to get into UConn, the number is quite small, he said.

In 2007, the General Assembly passed a bill that would have guaranteed in-state tuition rates for all high school graduates in the state, including illegal immigrants. Former Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed the bill.

The debate is playing out on the national stage too.

When President Barack Obama delivered his Jan. 25 State of the Union address he spoke about the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act. The act would have allowed young illegal immigrants to pursue citizenship provided they complete two years of either college or military service. The House passed it, but it died in the Senate.

The Hartford-based Connecticut chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union supports in-state tuition for immigrants, regardless of their status.

“To this end, the ACLU has fought to preserve the option for states to grant all its resident students, regardless of immigration status, the right to attend public universities at an affordable rate,” according to the organization’s website.

Yet, even legislators who might be open to the idea said this isn’t the budget season for bills like this.

Gov. Dannel Malloy’s budget calls for the restoration of $270 million over the next two years to the Education Cost Sharing grant to cities and towns to make up for the anticipated loss of funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, set to expire at the end of June.

However, that’s not enough to warrant extending education privileges, said state Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, a Democrat representing Westport in the 136th House District.

“To single out this bill, and ignore any number of other things we’d like to do … That’s not a slap on the worthiness of the bill," Steinberg said. "But I’m less than sanguine about any new legislation that expands education entitlements at this time.”

Supporters of Looney's bill say it opens pathways to higher education and increases the likelihood that these young people will stay here and contribute to Connecticut.

That’s smart policy, Tong said.

“To effectively deny them tuition is wrong,” he said. “It’s taking our investment in them, they’ve been here a number of years, and sending them out.”

But opponents argue passing such legislation would rob people who are here legally of a chance to pursue higher education.

“What will this add to the budget? Any bill that adds to the budget should be ignored,” said Wilton resident Kenneth Dartley. “I assume that illegals are not, by definition, legal residents of either the [United States] or Connecticut. Therefore, before granting them resident status for tuition purposes I would think that we should grant free tuition to all U.S.  veterans of all wars from anywhere in the [United States].”