If it seems like you haven't heard as much lately about illegal immigration, it's because the primary incentive for illegal entry – jobs – has decreased considerably as the economy falters.
But Colorado's legislature has been considering several aspects of the issue, and started the session last month with at least seven bills to address immigrant-specific matters. All but one of them died quickly.
This week on "
Colorado State of Mind" we'll talk about the surviving bill, which would allow any student, regardless of immigration status, who has attended a Colorado high school for at least three years or has a Colorado GED, to get the in-state tuition rate at a state college or university.
The idea has merit with some well-known Colorado business people. Dick Monfort, an owner of the Colorado Rockies, told
The Gazette, in Colorado Springs, "I am a Republican. But I don't even know how a Republican could view this as not a good thing."
Monfort said it is senseless to spend the money to put children of illegal immigrants through the public school system only to deny them the final step. A college degree, he said, "allows this student to make something of his life."
But the bill's opponents, including state Sen. Dave Schultheis (R-Colorado Springs), argue that higher education is not a right and that government has no business helping non-citizens receive it.
"Public schools from kindergarten through high school are already required by federal law to educate all children, regardless of their immigration status," Schultheis said in a recent statement. "Higher education, on the other hand, while coveted by some, is not a prerequisite for making something of oneself in America."
Where do you stand on this question? Let us know your thoughts, and join us Friday evening at 7:30 for "
Colorado State of Mind" on television, or any time after that, online.
-Cynthia Hessin
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