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In-State Tuition for Noncitizens Leaves Some Students in Limbo

Posted on: Tuesday, 11 October 2005, 21:00 CDT

By Judy Gibbs Robinson, The Daily Oklahoman

Oct. 11--When Antonio Martinez enrolled at Oklahoma Panhandle State University two years ago on an art scholarship, it looked like his problems were over.

The soft-spoken Guymon High School graduate had successfully lobbied the Legislature to allow noncitizens like him to qualify for in-state tuition, scholarships and financial aid.

Now, as he begins his junior year, the 21-year-old Mexican immigrant wonders what will happen if he doesn't have permanent residency when he graduates in May 2007. He wants to find a job as a graphic designer but fears employers might shun him -- even though he has temporary residency and a work permit, which he must renew annually.

"That goes through my mind," Martinez said. "I guess I would have to put (plans) on hold."

More than 200 college students in Oklahoma and untold numbers in eight other states could find themselves in the same predicament when they graduate. While states can help undocumented students go to college, it will take an act of Congress to let them work legally. And an increasingly vocal anti-immigration lobby will fight to keep that from happening.

"The fact is, they are still undocumented," said Armando Pena, director for student and community outreach activities for the State Regents for Higher Education. "To be frank, I think it was not fully considered."

Oklahoma's law When the Legislature passed the in-state tuition law in 2003, lawmakers were motivated by compassion for students like Martinez, who was 5 when his parents brought him across the border illegally.

"We're talking about Oklahomans. They have grown up here like everyone else," Rep. Kevin Calvey, R-Del City, said at the time.

The bill's Senate sponsor, Sen. Keith Leftwich, D-Oklahoma City, since has died. But his widow, who succeeded him, said they expected students who benefited to be able to get jobs.

"Why invest all that time and money if we can't help them complete their education and get a job?" said Sen. Debbe Leftwich, D-Oklahoma City.

Rep. Al Lindley, D-Oklahoma City, said lawmakers assumed undocumented students would be able to legalize their immigration status while in college. The bill requires them to apply as soon as they are eligible.

"We thought by the time they got out, their paperwork would have gone through. I guess there's still a big backlog," Lindley said.

Martinez is caught in that backlog. He applied for permanent residency six years ago.

Because of quotas, it typically takes Mexicans 13 years to get permanent residency and another five years to qualify for citizenship, said Teri Mora, director of Hispanic Student Services at Panhandle State.

There was little organized opposition when Oklahoma passed its tuition law, which Carol Helms of Jenks regrets.

"If we'd been here, we would have opposed it," said Helms, who last year organized a group called Immigration Reform for Oklahoma Now with 15 members. It has a mailing list of 500.

"The taxpayer here in Oklahoma is paying for that illegal alien's subsidized education. That is inequity," she said.

Retired Immigration and Customs Enforcement supervisor Steve Merrill of Oklahoma City agrees, and said in-state tuition for undocumented students amounts to rewarding law-breakers.

"They are law-breakers, whether their parents brought them here or they came on their own," he said.

Although opposed to the tuition law, Helms said her group is not trying to repeal it.

"We're waiting to see what happens with Kansas," she said.

The Washington-based Federation for American Immigration Reform challenged Kansas' in-state tuition law in court last year on behalf of 24 college students and their parents. It claims the rule violates U.S. law and rewards illegal immigration.

In July, Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Rogers in Topeka dismissed the suit, ruling the students could not sue because they did not face a concrete and imminent injury. His ruling did not address the merits of the case.

FAIR will appeal, and Helms thinks the courts eventually will declare the Kansas law unconstitutional.

"At that point, we feel Oklahoma legislators would be very foolish if they didn't repeal it on their own," she said.

Enrollment grows High school counselors, college recruiters and state regents are working to get the word out to Hispanic students that citizenship status should not keep them from going to college.

An education will benefit undocumented students even if they can't get jobs here

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Source: The Daily Oklahoman

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