Md. Gov. Supports In-state Tuition for Illegals

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (D) yesterday expressed support for a bill winding its way through the Maryland legislature that would allow illegal aliens to pay in-state tuition at Maryland universities, provided they graduated from a Maryland high school.

Gov. Martin O'Malley pledged yesterday to sign a bill allowing some illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at public universities in Maryland, giving a boost to a contentious measure that has unleashed an impassioned debate over civil rights and the failures of federal immigration policy.

"We are not a people or a country that has ever willfully chosen to condemn people to live in the shadows of our society," O'Malley said yesterday after the House passed the bill 81-57 late Monday. "Education is the light that allows individuals to create greater opportunity for all of us."

Yes education is important, but so is adhering to the law and by definition illegal immigrants are breaking the law. I don't think that people in this country illegally shoud benefit from breaks that apply to citizens and legal aliens, those people who follow the rules.

However, there is some light at the end of the tunnel for people who oppose this bill--the state's fiscal crisis. There is a cost for this bill since the difference in tuition rates at University of Maryland College Park, the state's flagship university is $13,439 ($21, 345 for out-of-state students versus $7,906 for Maryland residents). Right now estimates for illegal immigrants attending Maryland colleges would be pretty small, about $1.1 million according to the state, but not very many illegals attend colleges and most of those attend community colleges. However, it is not known how many would attend colleges under the new law. In addition, the fact taht these students would be ineligible to apply for financial aid under federal law makes it unlikely that a large number of students would apply to colleges.

But those statistics draw attention away from the fact that a benefit is being accorded to some people that is normally given to citizens. Although by the terms of the bill, legal resident aliens would receive the same benefit, we are still left with the issue of supporting illegal behavior. Admittedly, these students may be damaged by actions taken by their parents and not themselves, but that is not an argument that is particularly persuasive for me. While their parents brought the child to the country illegally, the suffering of the child may very well be the proper price to pay for the parents. It may seem cold and callous, but it is the very lack of consequences for illegal actions that continues to spur the illegal immigration.