EDITORIAL: Don’t repeal in-state tuition rates

by McAllen Monitor Editorial Board—

There was a moment of clarity during a public hearing earlier this month in Austin regarding a proposal to end the practice of offering in-state tuition to college students who are not legal citizens of the United States.

“We have a moral and legal obligation to take care of our citizens, Texas citizens, first,” said state Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, the lead author of the controversial and ill-conceived Senate Bill 1819, which is aimed at repealing what is known as the Texas Dream Act. Passed out of committee early last week, SB 1819 now awaits a vote in the full Texas Senate.

“It makes far more economic sense to subsidize the education of Texas citizens first,” Campbell said. “They are most likely to be employed. Most noncitizens would be ineligible to work, according to the federal laws.”

That statement goes to the heart of a key attitude displayed by the take-back-my-country faction of the Republican Party whose message is clear: “You’re not one of us.”

What Campbell and her allies don’t seem to appreciate is that the very people that the Texas Dream Act helps are exactly us. They are the Valley. They are the fastest growing part of Texas. They are the promise — or the threat — of our future, depending upon one’s perspective regarding Hispanic America.

The recognition that Dreamers are very much one of us underpins the brilliance of the original Texas Dream Act, which was passed by the Texas Legislature in an overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion in 2001 and signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Perry. So far-thinking was this law that similar legislation has since been adopted by at least a dozen other states.

The Texas Dream Act recognizes that thousands of children in our state may not be citizens in the eyes of the U.S. government, but they are most definitely citizens in the eyes of Texas and our communities. They are our neighbors. They are our children. They make up our schools, our neighborhoods and our economy.

These children are the most innocent component of the highly complex phenomena of human migration — a phenomena that has been part of the human condition since our species became ambulatory. They are children who are in this country because their parents brought them here.

Whether they have documents, or not, they are products of our communities and our schools. They pledge allegiance to our flag. They join our military. They contribute to our economy.

The Texas Dream Act recognizes this reality and seeks to invest in their future — and ours — by allowing for continued educational opportunities. The motivation is to help Dreamers become productive citizens in our community instead of burdens.

The law has safeguards. Dreamers must file an affidavit swearing that they will seek U.S. citizenship when they qualify; they must show proof that they have lived in Texas for at least three years; and they must show proof that they earned a high school diploma or GED.

The Texas Dream Act has become enormously successful. Campbell said that in its first year, the law benefited 733 Dreamers. By 2013, the numbers had grown to 25,000. Three out of four of these students are enrolled in community colleges across Texas.

Ironically, it is that very success that Campbell points to as a reason that it should be repealed. Texas taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize the college education of noncitizens, ignoring that the U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that Texas taxpayers must pay for the elementary and high school education of these same noncitizens.

Further, Campbell noted, some Dreamers have been able to secure financial aid worth $31 million and that amount is expected to grow to $100 million by 2020.

However, state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, has pointed out that Dreamers also pay $51.6 million in tuition and fees to Texas colleges. And state Sen. Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso, noted that Texas receives $4 in benefit for every $1 of investment.

So if the fiscal argument to repeal the Texas Dream Act makes little sense, then we are left with the social argument, which is admittedly a powerful one. These children are in this country illegally. Period.

But repealing the Texas Dream Act does nothing to address that problem. If college costs suddenly triple for 25,000 Texas college students who are in this country illegally, there is no evidence to suggest that these 25,000 students will suddenly leave the country.

Therefore, SB 1819 becomes more about political perception. It’s about the notion that if the federal government won’t do anything about illegal immigration, then, by God, Texas will. That perception is underscored by the fact that a college tuition bill went through a Senate committee dealing with border security instead of education.

This get-tough attitude, however, is dangerously close to the perception of intolerance and bigotry. Key business groups, like the Texas Association of Business, warns that such a perception could have a chilling effect on the business climate. Religious groups warn that we have a moral obligation to our children.

Ultimately, whether intentional or not, SB 1819 gives off an anti-Hispanic perception. It sends a signal by lawmakers that Dreamers, most of whom reside in the Valley, are not considered “one of us.”

–The Monitor Editorial Board

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