Yearning to be (Out-of-State Tuition) Free
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick explores options to underwrite the educational opportunities of document-challenged Americans. Boston Herald:
Gov. Deval Patrick is seeking to do an end-run around Beacon Hill lawmakers to offer in-state college tuition breaks to illegal immigrants, setting up a potential clash with the Legislature, which shot down a similar plan in 2006.
Patrick, who repeatedly said during his gubernatorial campaign that he backed tuition discounts for illegals, put his money where his mouth is yesterday, telling reporters he’s looking into ways to get it done, with or without lawmakers’ support.
“We have had some legal research done to see whether it’s possible to address that question without legislation,” Patrick said during remarks at the Omni Parker House. “The answer to that is by no means clear.”
Patrick cited 10 other states that provide in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants.
“We don’t tell immigrant children . . . that they can’t go to public colleges and universities,” Patrick told business and education leaders during the Mass Inc. breakfast. “We say they can come, we just say they have to pay a different rate than the kid who sat across the aisle from them at the local high school. That to me doesn’t seem right.”
His words prompted a swift and harsh response from Republican lawmakers.
“To do this explicitly against what the Legislature has wanted to do certainly smacks of an end run,” House Minority Leader Rep. Bradley H. Jones said, accusing Patrick of running the state “like a kingdom or a monarchy.”
“If he thinks he can do it legally, I have no doubt he will do it. But it’s wrong for the commonwealth. It sends the wrong message,” Jones (R-North Reading) said.
State Sen. Robert L. Hedlund (R-Weymouth) vowed to go to war with Patrick should the governor pursue the tuition breaks without legislative backing.
“Even if he finds a way to do that, I’m sure there will be a legislative response,” Hedlund said. “We’ll find a way to put that out for debate and overturn his action. That much I can assure you.”
Patrick spokesman Kyle Sullivan downplayed the flap, saying: “This is a complicated legal question and we are looking at both legislative and regulatory options.”
Under current law, illegal immigrants can attend state college but pay the same rate as out-of-state residents, which can be as much as three times higher.
Technically true, as long as university, goverment and law enforcement officials continue to ignore the other current law, under which illegal aliens are supposed to be detained and deported.
Curious that a Democratic governor would seek to bypass a Democratic-dominated Legislature on an issue of fundamental rights for people who have no right to be here. Deval, in case you missed it, has been campaigning for Obama, who campaigned for Deval. Not that either of them has a monopoly on humane concern for the least documented among us.
This very complex and confusing issue came up during the GOP debate last night.
Asked about the United States response in a confrontation with Iranian speedboats, Mr. Thompson said, “I think one more step and they would have been introduced to those virgins that they’re looking forward to seeing.” At another point, he offered that “you can tell that the news is good coming out of Iraq because you read so little about it in The New York Times.”
Ha! Not that issue. But Fred Thompson just got NYT to diss itself. This guy is fun. Too bad he’s not running for president.
He also went after Mr. McCain on immigration.
But why go after someone on that? Immigration made this country great. My dad’s an immigrant.
“I disagree with my friend John McCain on the bill that they proposed last year,” Mr. Thompson said. “I disagree with my friend Governor Huckabee when he supported in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.”
Uh, I don’t think he’s talking about immigration. Immigration involves standing in line, getting approved, getting your papers stamped. Wading rivers, being packed into panel vans, not part of the United States government’s regulated immigration process. That’s illegal border crossing.
Mr. McCain championed a controversial Senate bill that would have offered a pathway to citizenship to the 12 million illegal immigrants in the country, provided they cleared certain hurdles.
Asked what he would do as president about illegal immigrants in the country, Mr. McCain said he would make sure to secure the border but did not back away from his views. While those who committed crimes would be deported, he said, others would be addressed in “as humane and compassionate a way as possible.”
But humane compassion is good. Who could possibly be against that?
In response, Mr. Romney put forth a hard-line stance on the issue, arguing that the illegal immigrants in the country should be given some time to arrange their affairs but that all should be required to go home and “get in line with everybody else.”
OK, I’ve got it now. Expecting people to obey the law is inhumane, uncompassionate, hard line.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 5:57 am on Friday, January 11, 2008
3 Responses to “Yearning to be (Out-of-State Tuition) Free”
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January 11th, 2008 at 7:57 am
[...] Jules Crittenden on a Taxachusetts giveaway to illegal aliens. [...]
January 11th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Ask backers of each of the candidates and they’ll say their man won. To the Fred Thompson supporters I’ll say right away that old Fred had some zippy one-liners, but for the life of me, his note-reading is a spontaneity-killer. As any first-year college professor knows: Never read your notes! I guess being an actor gets one a free pass on the cue-card gravy train.
January 12th, 2008 at 12:57 am
“Patrick, who repeatedly said during his gubernatorial campaign that he backed tuition discounts for illegals, put his money where his mouth is yesterday…”
Not his money, but money coerced from the taxpayers of Taxachusetts. Judging by the legislature’s lack of enthusiasm for this idea in 2006 the people of the state probably don’t like Patrick’s giveaway of their hard-earned dollars to a bunch of scofflaws. I suppose it’s too much to ask a Democrat to follow democratic procedures, and not make law by executive ukase.