[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15791]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    IN-STATE COLLEGE TUITION FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS DEFIES COMMON SENSE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, America has the best public universities in the 
world. We have some of the best ones in Texas where I am from. Many 
Americans want to go to college. Parents want to send their kids to our 
public universities. Parents and students sometimes save for years to 
attend college. It is expensive, especially for the middle class. The 
rich can always pay; good for them. And the poor sometimes get grants 
and go to college, but it is the middle class that struggles, for a 
lifetime, sometimes, to send their kids to school.
  Some students decide to go a university in another State. They are 
penalized by that State and required to pay out-of-State tuition since 
they are from out of State.
  Citizens from other countries apply for Visas to come to the United 
States to go to public universities. If they are accepted, they pay 
out-of-State tuition since they are from out of State. These are 
citizens who come here legally and then go back to their native lands.
  But, Mr. Speaker, if a person is in the United States illegally, they 
can get admitted to State universities and pay in-State tuition. So if 
a person is illegally here from, let us say, France, they apply to a 
State university. If they are admitted, they pay in-State tuition. But 
they are from out of State, not to mention they should not even be 
here. They are violating American law by just their presence.
  So we continue to reward illegal behavior. This policy discriminates 
against American kids who want to go to, let us say, the University of 
Kansas from some other State. This policy also discriminates against 
foreign citizens who come here legally to go to college. It encourages 
more illegal immigration.
  College admissions are so competitive now that even allowing illegals 
to attend our universities may prevent American citizens from being 
accepted. And who pays for this nonsense? Americans pay. They always 
pay. We cannot continue to subsidize illegal immigration and the 
benefits illegals receive.
  There are several States that provide for in-State tuition for 
illegal individuals. The State that started this was my home State of 
Texas. If you go to the University of Texas and you are an in-State 
resident, you pay about $7,000. If you are from Oklahoma just across 
the Red River, you pay $10,000 more, about $17,000.
  Kansas, if you are an in-State resident, you pay about $5,000. Out of 
State, about $13,000, and the same is true in several other States.
  State University of New York: In State, $5,250; out of State, 
$11,200. University of Kansas: In State, $5,413, out of State, $13,865. 
University of Texas: In State, $7,438; out of State, $17,474.
  Mr. Speaker, this ought not to be. This penalizes American kids and 
rewards illegal conduct. This defies common sense.

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