California gives illegal aliens in-state tuition

If you are living illegally in the state of California, the state’s university system wants you.

Forget the fact that California is swimming in red ink, $16-20 billion, or California students are shouldering a 15 percent increase for this year and next year’s college tuition rates, or the fact that the state’s unemployment is the 4th highest in the nation at 12.5 percent- the Golden State elites are saying everything is a-okay.

Don’t think about the middleclass families, many of whom were born and raised in California, who are struggling to get by and cannot afford to send their kids to any college out of state because the tuition is too costly. And if you are a foreign national seeking an American higher education, California doesn’t want you either and you will pay up to $23,000 more in tuition fees.

However, if you are here illegally, you are able to get reduced tuition- something American’s in 49 other states are denied.

The California Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the estimated 25,000 illegal college students in California will be able to receive in-state tuition at public universities.

The court ruled that illegal aliens must abide by at least one rule in order to be eligible for the cheaper tuition. Prospective students must attend three years of high school.

In a time of budget cuts and deficits the California university system has increased tuition steadily for the past two years and pricing some families out of the four-year college program.

“I don’t understand why I have to shoulder the burden of higher college costs for my daughter. Why doesn’t the college boards offer a decrease in tuition for me and inform illegal immigrants they can attend college, but it will cost them the same price as any other non-state resident or foreign nationals?” said Maggie Simpson.

Parents like Simpson are now forced to send their children to a two-year community college because they can no longer afford a four-year education.

Of course, the illegal activists and the ACLU see things a little differently than American citizens.

"This law provides a lifeline for hard-working students, many of whom were brought to this country based on the choices of their parents and have grown up in low-income households. These students have persevered, often against long odds, to graduate from high school and gain acceptance into a state university or college. We are delighted that the court has ruled that these students should be granted the same opportunity to obtain an affordable education as their classmates," said Lee Gelernt, Deputy Director of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project.

However, Simpson doesn’t find comfort in California’s ruling. “I have to tell my kids that even though they worked hard in high school it’s too expensive for me and they will have to attend community college. It’s devastating,” she said.

Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Ralph Kasarda said, the California Supreme Court didn’t take into account the spirit of the law already on the books regarding residency and adds that this decision resulted in nothing more than favoritism for illegal aliens.

“California’s policy is also atrocious financial stewardship,” Kasarda concluded.

The California Supreme Court’s ruling is expected to be challenged in the nation’s highest court.

For more stories; http://www.examiner.com/county-political-buzz-in-san-diego/kimberly-dvorak