INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Utah Ed Bill the Latest Round of States’ Wrestling Match with Immigration

By Headwaters News, 2-03-06

Western states are wrestling with illegal immigration this legislative session, in part because many lawmakers believe that federal officials aren’t doing an adequate job. The trick for many lawmakers is to provide just enough social services to protect illegal immigrants’ human rights, but not provide too many to make them feel comfortable, and in some cases, even welcome.

A story from today’s Salt Lake Tribune illustrates that theme. A measure repealing a 3-year-old law that allows undocumented students who had attended high school in the state to pay in-state tuition at Utah colleges is expected to be passed by the full House, without public comment. Kids without citizenship or official documentation who could once attend college on in-state tuition will lose that privilege.

Some are arguing that the repeal is based on the idea that high school graduation doesn’t guarantee someone in-state status, and that’s why the law should be repealed. But any students who attend high school in Utah are eligible for in-state tuition. A few lawmakers feel that the current law opens the state up to potential lawsuits from out-of–state students who don’t want to pay higher tuition that illegal immigrants, which has happened in other states.

Utahns for the American Dream want the law maintained, claiming that a repeal will crush the American Dream, which is what attracts so many immigrants.

State lawmakers were torn over whether to repeal this law. State Rep. Jim Ferrin, R-Orem is quoted in the Tribune as saying: “I hate this bill; I hate this issue. But I am going to hold my nose and vote for it. . . . It's heartbreaking, but America is not the land of opportunity for those who come here illegally.�

Republican Rep. LaVar Christensen supports the current bill, but said he had to do what was best for the state and added, “I can't do everything my heart wants to do."

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