U. Nebraska-Lincoln Prof Criticizes State for Ending In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens
“I just want students to know, for whatever it’s worth, there are many educators here still fighting for what’s right and doing what we can to support”
It’s actually a good thing that people on the left are now openly affirming that they are for open borders. Now we know where everyone stands.
Campus Reform reports:
Nebraska professor laments end of tuition benefits for illegal immigrants
A University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor publicly criticized Nebraska officials after the state agreed to end in-state tuition benefits for students residing illegally in the U.S. following a Department of Justice legal challenge.
Crystal E. Garcia, an associate professor in UNL’s Department of Educational Administration, wrote in a social media post that Nebraska students were facing “hits to supports” after state officials moved to end tuition benefits for illegal immigrants and the university dissolved its Office of Gender and Sexuality.
“Students’ wellbeing and success should not be pawns for political gain,” Garcia said.
The comments came after the DOJ challenged Nebraska’s tuition policies in federal court. The DOJ argued that the state’s previous system violated federal law by allowing illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition rates and financial aid benefits unavailable to some American citizens from other states.
According to the DOJ, Nebraska agreed to a proposed consent decree that would prevent the state from continuing to provide in-state tuition and scholarship benefits to illegal immigrants attending public colleges and universities.
“Nebraskans expect that illegal aliens won’t get the benefit of in-state tuition and financial aid, and federal law forbids it,” Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen said in a statement supporting the move.
Garcia suggested in her post that Nebraska leaders were removing support systems for students rather than strengthening them.
“I just want students to know, for whatever it’s worth, there are many educators here still fighting for what’s right and doing what we can to support,” Garcia wrote.
Garcia serves as associate professor and Ph.D. coordinator in UNL’s Department of Educational Administration. According to her university faculty biography, her research focuses on “racially minoritized college students,” student affairs, and campus climate issues in higher education.
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Comments
So she’s criticizing the state simply for obeying the law. It’s not as if that law were ambiguous; it explicitly prohibits what the states was doing, and what it agreed to stop doing in return for the feds agreeing to drop the lawsuit.
This has nothing to do with any underlying principle; it’s simply a matter of a law that Congress made, rightly or wrongly, that is binding on the state.
If they want students to learn without paying, they should help by teaching without being paid.
She doesn’t want them to learn without paying. She just wants students who live in Nebraska to pay the same rate whether they do so legally or illegally.
Which in itself is not a bad policy; it’s not the university’s business to enforce immigration law. Let ICE come and deport them if it likes, but so long as they live in-state and attend the university it makes sense to charge them the same rate as other residents. All the reasons for giving a discount to legal state residents apply to them too.
Except that Congress made a law specifically prohibiting this, and if the states don’t obey the law why should anyone else? Note that the law doesn’t prohibit the university from admitting these students; it only prohibits charging them less than what it charges US citizens from other states. If Nebraska doesn’t like that law it can ask Congress to repeal it, and see how that goes.
Then, cooperate with ICE. They won’t do that and have financial reasons not to do so in that case.
Also, they committed a crime by coming here illegally. Universities are charged with oversight on who they admit and can be sued for negligence if they don’t do proper vetting. And, of course, that suit tends to hit a tax base at some level.
“Students’ wellbeing and success should not be pawns for political gain,” Garcia said.
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exactly–stop with the pontification / indoctrination efforts and focus on the university’s core function–education–leave the students alone
you lack the power or the authority to obligate the electorate to subsidizing the public education of those illegally in our country
I was about to say the same thing! Isn’t it funny how THEY can use illegal aliens for scoring political points while telling us not to?
Nebraskans expect that illegal aliens won’t get the benefit of in-state tuition and financial aid, and federal law forbids it?
Well the Left expect Nebraskans to fund illegal aliens with tuition and financial aid, and that federal law will be amended to support open borders!
How many students’ tuition will you pay for?
There is an easy fix to this dilemma: charge everyone the same rate.
Problem solved!
Or just don’t admit illegal aliens at all.