Kudos to North Carolina Community Colleges…
North Carolina’s community colleges must admit [undocumented] immigrants as long as they are 18 years old and high school graduates, a legal decision that reverses a 2004 rule that gave campuses the option to say no.
The change is good news for the children of foreign workers brought to America while they were minors and want to contribute to North Carolina society, said Melinda Wiggins, director of the Durham-based Student Action with Farmworkers.
via Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Note: Undocumented students are not eligible for financial aid and have to pay out-of-state tuition rates. “The community college system said that full-time students paying out-of-state tuition actually pay about $2,100 per year more than what it costs to teach them.”
Tags: community colleges, Higher Education, north carolina, Social Justice, undocumented students
This is a tough question that has come up in Georgia. I have sympathy for children who were brought to the U.S. by their parents by no choice of their own. I can understand that it is not fair to punish them for the actions of their parents, especially when that punishment could serve to prevent their contribution to our country. However, there should be some way that they have to be making stride toward legal residency to enjoy the benefits of American society. I do not think that that would be unfair.
I think we are in agreement on this issue. I’ve seen a lot of awful comments in the blogosphere by people who say that the children of undocumented immigrants should be deported back to the birth-country of their parents. It is similar to someone saying that when I was 18 that I should go back to Germany even though I don’t speak German and have no connections to Germany other than my families historical ties.
The Dream Act would have done this. It’s unfortunate that it was not passed.
Amazing…we can agree on something!