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Friday, February 18, 2011
State Gov SB 126 gives undocumented college kids a chance
Posted by J. Adrian Stanley on Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 12:44 PM
Colorado Senate Bill 126 would give college-bound kids who are illegally in the country a chance to attend college at an affordable cost. The bill seeks to help kids who were raised in the United States and worked hard in school, only to be told that when they turn 18, they have no job prospects beyond grunt work.
Conservatives have generally been opposed to bills like SB 126, saying they reward illegal immigration.
The bill is being supported by Colorado ASSET, which issued this release:
Colorado ASSET
Senate Bill 126 Passes Out Of Committee
Unsubsidized In-State Tuition For Undocumented Students Moves ForwardDenver, CO - Today, Senate Bill 126 passed out of the Senate Education committee on a vote of 5 - 2. Next, the bill will go to Senate Finance.
"This bill has always been the right thing to do, but now it is the economically smart thing to do. We must ensure that Colorado's economy is built on the foundation of a talented, educated, innovative and diverse workforce," said Senator Giron.
"Our Governor just proposed a huge cut to our state's higher education budget. Colorado ASSET adds tuition revenue to our cash-strapped colleges and universities. Students who aren't attending college, because they can't afford it, will now pay hundreds of thousands of additional tuition dollars to our colleges and universities," said Senator Johnston.
"Texas implemented in-state tuition and saw a $27.2 million annual increase in tuition and fees at their colleges and universities," continued Johnston.
"I am here to represent the numerous undocumented students across Colorado who could not testify here today. I came here on a political asylum case from El Salvador, I am able to legally work here but I have to pay out of state tuition in order to attend college and become a greater asset to Colorado's economy," stated Aminta Menjivar.
Colorado ASSET requires undocumented students to pay unsubsidized in-state tuition to attend Colorado's colleges and universities. In order to be eligible for Colorado ASSET, a student will have to attend three or more years of high school in Colorado as well as graduate or obtain a GED. They will then have twelve months from graduation to apply and be accepted at one of Colorado's institutions of higher learning.
Colorado ASSET students will not be eligible for any state or federal financial aid. This means no state taxpayer dollars will go toward this program. Instead Colorado's college and universities will see increased revenue from additional students attending their schools.
Colorado ASSET is being promoted by the Higher Education Access Alliance (HEAA) which is led by a steering committee that includes: the Colorado Education Association (CEA), Colorado Catholic Conference, Latin American Educational Foundation (LAEF), Metropolitan Organizations for People (MOP), Padres y Jóvenes Unidos, and Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC). The steering committee is joined by several hundred other supporting organizations and individuals which can be found here.
Comments (5)
Showing 1-5 of 5
I see nothing wrong with this if the money does not come from state or federal aid. I guess that the subsidy comes from the money fairy. Now Colorado can boast that the people that they deport are smarter than the people that other states deport. Also after they graduate and can't legally get a job Colorado will have the smartest unemployed people compared to any other state.
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Posted by
ronk1957
on 02/19/2011 at 8:13 AM
There would be continuous unrest amongst union members in Wisconsin or any other State if the 10 million US workers around the country are directly affected by one crushing issue only? Americans have been eying Members of the House all day and evening as they heatedly debated in attempts to make painfully large cuts in various federal programs that will result in no more than trifling cuts in the overall federal deficit. The outstanding problem is that federal government, states and municipalities are subject to sustaining illegal immigrants, either them pilfering with fraudulent ID to get jobs or just given handouts in billions of dollars in welfare entitlements because the Liberal progressives said so? Being "Politically Correct" has atrophied the American people determination, even to the point of genuflecting to illegal foreign visitors. They are ILLEGAL ALIENS and forever will be. They broke the law, even though courts have declared this offense a minor infringement. I can see a chief battle about to be waged in the Congress and in every State that has been affected by the assault. All rancid "political Correctness" has placed us in a precarious position, where we cannot confirm a person’s nationality, unlike Israel that is not held to ransom by the Liberal progressives.
These radicals seemed determined to want to destroy America, leaving us open to incursion from Middle East killers or zealot Muslims, arriving here to do us harm. This security risk will be forever present, along with the drug cartels and desperate peoples who keep on coming to steal Americans dream. The open border fanatics have tried hard to desensitize us to the silent illegal alien invasion, which has trespassed on this sovereign land, of this nation. But now with massive federal deficits, along with the majority of States suffering financially the purging must begin. Every State is bleeding copiously from the unfettered flow of uninvited people through borders or arriving on jet tarmacs across America. Our only hope is State policing as the czars in Washington linger spineless and rebuff, to make it their priority of immigration enforcement. Instead of pandering to foreign nationals they agonize about been driven out in the next election.
By implementing mandatory policing laws that includes the E-Verify program and 287 (g) locally trained police officers to question apprehensive persons. This should be an obligation of any administration and not allowing personages equal to Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) vilifying E-Verify, 287 G and apposing their use. The US Constitution reminds us we are a nation of laws, yet the federal government has botched to seal the border, with the double layer fence topped with concertina razor and enhanced with electrified nodes running the whole 2000 miles as according to the 2006 Secure fence Act. In addition armed troops deployed to the dangerous territory, this would finally seal the border region. To repeat yet again, if our politicians in Washington introduced a bill, making US entry a felony, as many countries do? The reduction in the flow of foreign people would be enormous, knowing that they are risking prison for two to ten years.
Colorado failed to pass an immigration policing law, however Utah placed its working Americans first, so the outcome will be a deluge of illegal Stateless people packing their belongings and traveling towards Colorado. Any State that doesn't enact an immigration enforcement law, will feel the flood of hundreds of thousands of extra mouths to feed, reducing their hospitals as a dumping ground for sick illegal foreigners, cramped schools for all children and having to find more room in the prison system. It's over a hundred billion of dollars a year going from the federal and State coffers to address welfare to illegal aliens and their families. What we need is a welcoming committee for legal people with high professional standards and completely self-sustaining jobs, and not the indigent people we must maintain with handouts.
After securing the borders, then we can calculate how many Guest Workers we need to be contracted out to farms and other agricultural departments with a exiting provision. They are not subject to any kind of permanent settlement or chain migration of family members. The federal government should then issue an ultimatum, giving those already here a warning that they must leave America within one Calendar year or face harsh penalties. We need a President and both sides of the aisle who will enact laws, in the interests of the American people. Eventually more and more States will be enthused with adding enforcement laws as the great State of Arizona, crippled by the open palms of illegal welfare recipients, birthright citizenship. Judge for yourself by reading information at NumbersUSA about real estimates of illegal alien costs, population statistics and a place after you see the truth, a place to send free faxes to the leadership in Washington, including a phone number to contact their offices at 202-224-3121.
Posted by
Casca
on 02/19/2011 at 1:15 PM
I applaud this effort and would like to give my sincere appreciation to all those who worked on making higher education a reality for so many Latinos y Latinas in this country. This is all many of them are asking, to be given an opportunity to prove themselves. Thank you Colorado, you are an inspiration, I hope the rest of the country follows your lead.
Posted by
crista
on 02/22/2011 at 6:41 PM
america has switched from black slavery to brown slavery, it was about time we gave these people a chance!
Posted by
snoopy10
on 03/01/2011 at 10:23 PM
It is quite difficult enough for documented, tax-paying residents of this state to afford a college education. Why should we further dilute the aid available, i.e., taxes already paid, by spreading it across a group who does not support the system they seek to take further advantage of? So an illegal alien gets in-state tuition but we have to explain to a US citizen from Kansas or Utah why she has to pay twice the amount the illegal does? Allow the parents of those "Latinos y Latinas" to make higher education a reality for them. I have quite enough on my plate just trying to get my own kids through school.
Posted by
danman43
on 03/02/2011 at 6:49 AM
