New Rights for Illegal Immigrants Now Granted in Certain States
Thousands of illegal immigrants living in Massachusetts can now qualify for state resident tuition rates at state colleges, under a policy laid out on Monday by Gov. Deval Patrick.
This change builds on the Obama administration policy, adopted in June, that the federal government will not seek to deport most young immigrants who, as children, were either brought to the United States illegally or kept here illegally.
12 states currently have laws allowing illegal immigrants to claim state residency and pay in-state tuition; this month, Maryland became the first to adopt such a law by popular vote. The others are California, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin. In contrast, six other states — Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio and South Carolina —have adopted laws explicitly barring illegal immigrants from qualifying for in-state tuition.
The Obama administration policy applies to anyone who arrived in the United States before turning 16, has lived here for at least five years, is under the age of 31, has no serious criminal record, and either is in school, has a high school diploma or equivalent, or has been honorably discharged from the armed services.
Young people can apply to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services agency for formal recognition under the policy, which automatically qualifies them for a work permit.
The number of people who qualify may be over one million, but about 300,000 have applied so far to be formally recognized by the federal government. Advocates say that many immigrants did not want to step forward until after the election, because Mitt Romney had said he would overturn the policy if elected president.
Question: Do you agree or disagree with these new state policies of allowing illegal immigrants the right to attend public, college institutions and obtain work permits?