Signatures Rise on Petition to Repeal Tuition Breaks for Illegal Immigrants
John Wagner, Washington Post, June 1, 2011
Organizers of an effort to repeal a Maryland law granting college tuition breaks to illegal immigrants said Wednesday that they have collected 62,496 signatures to force a public vote–a significantly higher number than an estimate provided 24 hours before.
On Tuesday afternoon, leaders of the group MDPetitions.com said they were prepared to turn in more than 40,000 signatures to meet an initial deadline established by law. But the batch they turned into the secretary of state shortly before midnight Wednesday grew considerably, they said.
If all the signatures claimed Wednesday are founded to be valid, the group will have met the threshold for putting the law on hold and calling a statewide referendum on the issue in November 2012.
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The law, signed this month by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), would allow students who are illegal immigrants to pay the lower in-state rates at the state’s colleges and universities. To be eligible, students must have attended a Maryland high school for three years, provide proof that their parents are taxpayers and express their intent to become a citizen.
Neil Parrott, Baltimore Sun, May 31, 2011
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When considering our existing immigration laws, it is absurd to even think about hard-working Marylanders subsidizing in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens, which the Maryland legislature voted this year to do.
Although the bill passed, I can assure you that there was bipartisan opposition to this bill in both the House of Delegates and the state Senate. The liberal leaders in the Democratic majority applied pressure to get the bill through, but even so, it barely passed. The vote in the House was 74-65, with more than 20 Democrats voting against the legislation.
Not only does this bill further encourage illegal aliens to migrate to Maryland, but we simply cannot afford it. The fiscal note attached to the bill indicated that the costs to the state will reach an additional $4 million annually.
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{snip}. In-state tuition is not just a nice benefit; it uses Maryland tax dollars to cover more than half the cost of college tuition.
