Guest Column
(Georgia State) Senators Rogers and Johnson-Actions speak louder than words
From GALEO
Atlanta, Georgia - December 6, 2005 - Last week, Senator Rogers claimed to have taken the issue of banning undocumented students access to higher education “off the table”, but his and Senator Eric Johnson's actions and words speak louder than their deeds.
According to La Voz Latina in Savannah (11/3/05), Senator Eric Johnson said, "Every seat in this university has a value, and any student who is here as an illegal immigrant is taking that seat away from a taxpaying citizen." According to the Savannah Morning News (9/30/05), Senator Johnson stated, "We're not saying illegal immigrants shouldn't go to college; we are saying taxpayers shouldn't pay for it." Senator Johnson was asked directly if the legislation would ban access to undocumented students and his response was, "Tax-payer funded education, yes."
On 9/27/05, Senator Chip Rogers erroneously commented to the University of Georgia newspaper, saying that currently undocumented immigrants have access to in-state tuition. That is not true. Undocumented students must pay out-of-state tuition. Furthermore in the same article, the Board of Regents stated that out-of-state tuition is full tuition, while in-state tuition covers 25% of the cost of tuition while the state taxpayers pay 75% of the costs for in-state tuition. So, denying access to higher education to undocumented students and allowing them to pay out-of-state tuition, which is the current policy, is not a burden on Georgia taxpayers.
On the notion that the 1996 Immigration reform act restricts state universities and colleges from admitting undocumented students, again Senator Rogers is mistaken. Senator Rogers made a very serious charge against the current University Board of Regents, insinuating that they are out of compliance with federal law. According to the National Immigration Law Center, there are nine states (Texas, California, Utah, Washington, New York, Oklahoma, Illinois, Kansas, and New Mexico) that extend in-state tuition to undocumented students who graduated from high school in their states. These states passed the legislation with strong bi-partisan support. For example, in Illinois, the vote in the House was 112 to 4 and in the Senate it was 55-1. These states are in full compliance with federal laws and all current case law, favoring support of these and other initiatives for undocumented students. Nine states have extended these benefits and the U.S. Senate recently re-introduced a bipartisan bill, the DREAM Act, that would further the process for allowing access to in-sate tuition to undocumented students. The debate around the country has been on how to expand access instead of denying access to higher education.
Finally, Senator Eric Johnson, who has been a vocal supporter of SB 169, 170 and 171 asserts that the bills are in the process of being “perfected”. When the leader of the State Senate expresses such concern about pending legislation, that leads me to believe the bills are poorly written and have not been properly vetted. This is why even Governor Perdue and U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss have distanced themselves from these bills and said they were not appropriate for Georgia. Denying access to education to undocumented students does not solve our failed federal immigration problem, but it may score some political points. However, make no mistake about it, no amount of “perfecting” will change the fact that immigration is a federal issue that requires the U.S. Congress to act and provide guidance on employment, education, identification and enforcement.
We strongly favor comprehensive federal immigration reform that will provide security for our borders and a legal and reliable work force. It does not make sense for our state to attempt to manage and control immigration until we have a comprehensive law which we can then adopt, manage and enforce. Any attempt to do otherwise will create enormous confusion and conflict with our state agencies and universities. If Senator Rogers is serious about ensuring access to higher education to undocumented students, he must explicitly put that in his legislation. Action does speak louder than words.
We need strong leadership on true solutions. Rather than fanning the flames of anti-immigrant sentiment with state legislation, we should work towards comprehensive immigration reform. True solutions lie at the federal level. Senators Rogers and Johnson both belong to the GOP and have access to our majority GOP Congressional delegation. This connection should move our state towards coming together with an answer to a very serious federal issue. Instead, they are deciding to focus at the state level for political points instead of really working on a comprehensive solution with our Congressional delegation. That is a shame. Actions do speak louder than words.
About GALEO
GALEO is a statewide 501 (c) (6) nonprofit and non- partisan organization providing a voice for the growing Latino population in Georgia and a framework for collaborative and proactive legislative initiatives for Georgia's Hispanic community.
Website: http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=yu5h8qbab.0.cjqap8n6.kp7yy9n6.1872&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.galeo.org
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed by HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com) without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)