Public College Board To Reverse Illegal Alien Ban

Caving into the powerful La Raza movement, officials in one of the nation’s largest public community college districts are working to reverse a state law banning illegal immigrants from enrolling in the system.

The proposal is set to nix a year-old North Carolina policy prohibiting illegal aliens from attending any of the state’s 58 public community college campuses, which combined serve about 1 million students. A handful of public institutions prevent illegal immigrants from enrolling, but North Carolina’s measure marked the first statewide policy blocking undocumented aliens seeking a taxpayer financed college education.

The 2008 order came from North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper who pointed out that federal law bans illegal immigrants from getting state benefits, including a higher education. Cooper ordered the state’s public colleges to immediately stop enrolling undocumented students into degree programs.

But officials in the North Carolina Community College System want to allow illegal immigrants who have graduated from a U.S. high school to enroll for classes at all public campuses. They assure that the amended policy would not allow illegal aliens to bump legal residents from classes or programs. The board is set to approve the ban reversal in the coming months. 

A handful of states—including California, New York, Texas, Maryland and Wisconsin—violate federal law by giving illegal immigrants discounted in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. The practice was successfully challenged by a group of out-of-state students in California who argued that the state’s college system violated the law by charging them higher tuition and fees than undocumented immigrants. A California appellate court ruled in favor of the American students and the case is pending before the sate Supreme Court.