N.Y. Legislature Passes Bill to Provide Illegal Immigrants
In-State Tuition Rates
The New York State Legislature has passed legislation that
would allow certain immigrants living in the United States illegally to pay
in-state tuition rates at the City University of New York and the State
University of New York. The bill, which the governor had requested and is
expected to sign, would reverse policies at both institutions.
Members of the State Assembly approved the legislation on
Tuesday by a vote of 78 to 69. The State Senate had passed an identical bill on
Thursday by a vote of 40 to 21.
Under the legislation, immigrants who are in the United
States illegally would have to have attended a New York high school for at
least two years, graduated, and applied to attend a state university or college
within five years of receiving a diploma to be eligible to pay in-state tuition
rates. Illegal immigrants also would be able to pay the resident rates if they
attended a New
York program for a general-equivalency diploma, received the
diploma in New York, and applied to a New York college or university within
five years of receiving the diploma.
Those eligible for the resident rates would be required to
sign an affidavit pledging to apply for a legal immigration status as soon as
they were eligible.
New York Gov. George E. Pataki, a Republican who is running
for re-election this fall, announced in April that he supported this kind of
legislation to "reinforce New York's proud legacy as a bastion of hope and
opportunity by providing access to a high-quality, affordable higher education
for hard-working immigrants."
CUNY administrators, faculty members, and students also have
been advocating legislation to allow undocumented immigrants to pay resident
tuition rates, and they praised the bill's passage. "This is a great
victory for thousands of hard-working immigrants who look to institutions like
CUNY to realize their dreams," said Jay Hershenson, CUNY's vice chancellor
for university relations.
Last November, CUNY changed its longstanding tuition policy
-- under which many illegal immigrants paid the in-state rates -- after
administrators decided that the system had to charge them higher, nonresident
rates to comply with a 1996 federal immigration law. A provision of the federal
law states that immigrants who are not legally in the United States cannot be
eligible, based on their living in a state, for any postsecondary-education
benefit unavailable to all U.S. citizens. Since SUNY and CUNY, like most
public-college systems, charge higher rates for out-of-state students, CUNY
officials said that the in-state rate was a benefit covered by the law.
Matthew Goldstein, CUNY's chancellor, agreed that the
university had to change the policy, but made it clear that he supported a
change in state law that would allow institution officials to go back to
charging immigrants the resident tuition rates.
The bill that the State Legislature endorsed would allow
CUNY to retroactively charge resident tuition rates to immigrant students who
attended the university during the 2001-2 academic year. CUNY officials had
allowed those students to defer payment on the portion of their tuition bill
that reflected the nonresident rate while the legislation was pending before
state lawmakers.
At CUNY's senior colleges, New York residents pay $3,200 per
year, compared with $6,800 per year for students from outside the state.
At SUNY's senior colleges, residents pay $3,400 per year,
versus $8,300 per year for nonresidents. Some SUNY campuses once allowed some
undocumented immigrants to qualify for resident tuition rates, but the system's
regents changed the institution's policy in June 1998 in response to the
federal immigration law. The policy now prevents immigrants living in the state
illegally from paying in-state rates.
Elsewhere, California and Texas enacted laws last year that
are similar to New York's and allow some illegal immigrants to pay resident
tuition rates at public colleges. In March, Utah Gov. Michael O. Leavitt, a
Republican, signed a bill that also would allow some immigrants living in the
United States illegally to pay resident tuition rates at Utah's public colleges
if the federal government made it clear that states had the authority to make
such decisions. Many state and college officials have argued that California,
New York, Texas, and Utah wrote their legislation in ways that allow them to
legally sidestep the 1996 federal law, but some national groups that support
limiting immigration and others have said that the states' actions violate the
federal statute.
Last week, members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
endorsed a bill that would specifically allow states to determine if they want
to make illegal immigrants living within their borders eligible for resident
tuition rates. The bill, introduced by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, a Utah Republican,
also would allow certain illegal immigrants to apply for status as permanent
legal residents.
To be eligible for such status, the students would have to
be between the ages of 12 and 21 and have been in the United States for at
least five years when the bill was enacted, receive a high school diploma or a
general equivalency diploma, and be of "good moral character."
The Senate committee passed the legislation, S 1291, by a
voice vote. To be enacted, the bill still would have to pass the full Senate as
well as the House of Representatives. House members have not acted on any
similar bill, which would likely face more opposition in that chamber.
Officials at the Federation for American Immigration Reform,
which advocates curtailing immigration, spoke out against the Senate
legislation and the New York bill. They argue that both measures would unfairly
provide special benefits, at the expense of American taxpayers, to immigrants
who are breaking the law and would make it more difficult for the federal
government to crack down on illegal immigration.
"With the cost of a college education skyrocketing,
slots at state-subsidized universities are becoming the only hope of a higher education
for many American families," Dan Stein, executive director of the
federation, said in a prepared statement. The
Senate bill, he added, "will give illegal aliens the
same chance at these seats as citizens who play by the rules."