http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=1238256One state will continue to uphold a law that gives illegal immigrants the opportunity to receive higher education without being charged higher rates.
In a unanimous vote, the California Supreme Court decided last week that any student can qualify for in-state tuition, which means illegal immigrants will not have to pay higher rates for college. In his ruling, Justice Ming W. Chin writes that the state's highest court would uphold current law, which requires students to attend a high school in the state for at least three years and graduate before avoiding the higher rates that are charged to those who live outside California.
Robert Rubin, director of litigation for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights (LCCR) points out that the state reaps greater economic benefits by upholding the law.
Robert Rubin (LCCR)"Congress said that [illegal immigrants] could be eligible for benefits, as long as it was not on the basis of residence; it's on the basis of graduation from a California high school that it's legal," Rubin explains. "First of all, if you look at it from a pure economic standpoint, California stands to reap far greater benefits by allowing the students to complete their college education and more fully contribute to the financial welfare of the state."
He notes that students who are illegal immigrants today may not be so tomorrow. So by giving them an education, they can have a better future.
"These students are here to stay, so the choice is do you keep them illiterate and make sure that they are on the margin society, or do you allow them to complete their education and be able to fully contribute to the state," the LCCR litigation director suggests.
He adds that an estimated 25,000 illegal immigrants are expected to receive in-state tuition in California.
Topic: CA Supreme Court preserves in-state tuition for illegals (Read 1157 times)