For the past few months, we have witnessed conflicting points of views expressed by the public officials in North Carolina on whether to allow undocumented students access to postsecondary education. Yesterday, the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) clarified once and for all that federal law did not prohibit undocumented immigrants from attending colleges.
Last year, David J. Sullivan, assistant to the president for legal affairs for the North Carolina community college system, wrote to the leaders of the 58 community colleges that, “notwithstanding any policy of the local board, colleges should immediately begin admitting undocumented individuals” as out-of-state residents. Governor Easley agreed while the systemwide President, Martin Lancaster issued a statement saying
"For North Carolina to be competitive in a global economy, it must depend on a knowledge-based workforce which makes it imperative that every future worker in North Carolina receive as much education as possible. To deny a significant portion of tomorrow’s workforce any higher education opportunities will not only hurt these young people who came to North Carolina through no fault of their own, but it will also significantly diminish their incomes forever. The consequences to North Carolina are reduced tax collections and potential payments for social services and incarceration long into the future. This will hit the pocketbooks of those who now oppose maximizing the earning capacity of everyone who lives in North Carolina. This ill-advised position would hurt North Carolina and its economic future and will increase the tax burden of those now screaming the loudest."
Yet, this past week the Attorney General of North Carolina wrongly interpreted federal immigration law, stating that it prohibited undocumented immigrants from attending colleges and North Carolina must stop doing so immediately. This misperception is shared by many and it is about time our officials responsible for upholding immigration law clarified that there was no law on the books that prohibited postsecondary education of undocumented immigrants.
The role of college officials is to educate and not adjudicate. And in a move that is likely to anger opponents, ICE responded to the News Observer with this statement, agreeing that "It is left for the school to decide whether or not to enroll out-of-status or undocumented non-immigrants...The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not require any school to determine a student’s status.”
Here is a look at undocumented students in North Carolina by the numbers that shows how admitting undocumented students is a net-benefit, a profit-making opportunity for higher education in North Carolina:
27 - UNC system students who are illegal immigrants, out of 200,000
340 - Community college students who are illegal immigrants, out of 271,000
$5,300 - Annual cost of educating a full-time student at a community college
-
$7,465 - Out-of-state tuition illegal immigrants pay at community college
Since undocumented students make up less than one-tenth of one percent of students in the North Carolina system and do not burden taxpayers because they are not eligible for financial aid or grants, it would be sheer folly not to educate them. No one benefits from the creation of a permanent underclass.
In short, the situation in North Carolina would have been avoided had Congress taken action on CIR and the DREAM Act. Status quo immigration law is simply unsuited and ill-equipped to deal with the phenomenon of undocumented students in higher education. Left to individual states, expect more bickering and confusion in the near future.
Click here to request that our next President takes action on the DREAM Act so that less energy is diverted towards solving the confusion brought about by our immigration system.
