Georgia Immigration Law: Senate Bill 458 Would Ban Undocumented Immigrants From Public Colleges

In the wake of Georgia's harsh immigration law, HB 87, which requires employers to check the immigration status of potential workers and encourages law enforcement to ask for immigration verification during routine stops, a Georgia Senate committee has now passed a new measure targeting undocumented residents.

The bill, SB 458, would ban non-citizens from attending public colleges in the state, and would make provisions to HB 87. The bill now moves to the full Senate.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sen. Barry Loudermilk (R-Cassville), the sponsor of SB 458, said that college slots are being taken away from U.S. citizens and given to undocumented immigrants who would not be able to work in the country legally after graduation.

“Our colleges and universities are for those that are U.S. citizens and are here legally,” Loudermilk said.

Loudermilk and other supporters of the bill believe that the current University System of Georgia is a violation of federal law, and that attending a public university is a privilege to be granted only to citizens. However, federal law does not ban undocumented immigrants from attending public colleges, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It gives states the power to make the decision independent of the federal government.

Hank Huckaby, University System chancellor, defended the current situation, stating that undocumented students do not receive the benefit of in-state tuition, supported by taxpayer dollars. Instead they are charged out-of-state tuition, which is three-times more expensive. Huckaby believes the current system works well and should remain in place.

Out of 318,000 students in the University System, which includes the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State, Georgia Health Sciences and Georgia College & State universities, only about 300 are undocumented, according to Huckaby, a decrease from about 500 last year.

Jerry Gonazalez, the executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, spoke out against the bill, noting that many states are working to make college more accessible to non-citizens.

President Barack Obama's DREAM Act proposal would allow conditional, permanent residency to undocumented residents who meet certain criteria, such as attending a four-year college for at least two years or serving two years in the military. Opponents of the bill believe that it encourages and rewards undocumented immigration.

Comments

[Kimkim92kimkim]

08:44 AM on 05/24/2012

i just want to know why they want to stop people from going to college??? wether they are documented or not, i mean i understand where you would get mad, if they are "taking away" spaces for people who are documented, but wouldnt it be because they are more quilified???? and under the dream act cant they get documentation after graduating??? Its not like these are hardend criminals that got here a month ago trying to get into college, these are kids that have been here sence they can remember, People trying to get an education. And its not like they dont have to pay, they pay like everyone elts.....maybe if your kids tried harder and had better grades you wouldnt have to worrie about an undocumented immigrant taking there spot in school...........

[Freedomlover999]

01:20 PM on 04/19/2012

YES YES YES...This needs to be across the board through out the US...your an illegal alien...you want education go back to your country and get all the education you want.

[janmB]

03:28 PM on 03/01/2012

We don't have enough decent jobs and enough jobs for American citizens today. Perhaps, it's not such a bad idea to eliminate undocumented people from getting any benefits from living in this country which may discourage them from coming here. At the same time, it doesn't make any sense at all to be talking about getting rid of Planned Parenthood and contraception when we are over-populated to the point there aren't enough decent paying jobs. .But then it's asking too much for common sense these days.

[researcher1000]

02:38 PM on 03/01/2012

"The bill, SB 458, would ban non-citizens from attending public colleges in the state, and would make provisions to HB 87". They are using all kinds of excuses to keep them marginalized and uneducated. Let young people study. Next, they will say that because they are illegal they should not have water, electricity, food, etc.

What nonsense. Georgia, you are embarrassing the rest of the country.

[humansarehumans]

06:27 AM on 02/29/2012

This bill has unintended negative consequences for Education in GA. These are some of the problems I foresee with banning students who are unlawfully present from going to college in Georgia:

1. According to Governor Deal’s Complete College Georgia initiative, we need more College Grads from the USG, not fewer. We can keep 300 more College graduates right now by just removing the post-secondary language from SB 458.

2. Our K-12 Teachers have an ambitious few of these students fully prepared to succeed in College. Banning them will create a small, but significant brain drain. Locally cultivated talent will end up going out of state instead of staying in GA and paying full tuition. Others will just stay here but never reach their full potential.

3.Higher education = greater personal independence and less crime. Fewer educational opportunities lead to more social ills, potentially costing the State of GA.

4. Taking away the motivation to succeed from some students in high school might create attitude problems in classrooms that will affect all students. Teacher's jobs will be harder.

5. The students directly affected by SB 458 feel that they are Georgians and have loyalty to this State. Since they were kids when they came here that they did not personally break the law. Although they may have to find employment after college somewhere else, these ambitious young people will be USG alumni and friends of Georgia around the world decades from now.

Let them study.

[researcher1000]

02:00 PM on 03/01/2012

Absolutely agree. Our country needs educated people. I cant think of any reason to prevent anyone from studying.

[TggerJen]

08:02 PM on 03/12/2012

If they want to go to college and are talented enough to do so, they are welcome to do that in their own country.  The unemployment rate for new college grads is higher than the national average. If at any time we need more workers and/or college students, we can increase the numbers of those waiting in line to come here legally. There's never any reason whatsoever to reward the lawbreaking foreign nationals who come/stay here illegally and certainly never any reason to make it easier for them to freeload even more.

[purplerainboots]

11:12 PM on 03/19/2012

By "freeloading" you mean paying out-of-state tuition straight from their own pockets? You act like there are so many undocumented students who are just dancing their way through universities without a care in the world. Sir, the true "freeloading" students are Americans like me. I've not had to pay a dime for my college education, while people I know and love are working their fingers to the bone to put themselves through college.

Let them study, sir.

[humansarehumans]

09:34 AM on 02/25/2012

These legislators are using Vets to push their agenda and it's disgusting. SB 458 is not going to help Vets. SB 458 is just a policy based on distaste for certain human beings, it goes against basic human rights, doesn’t achieve anything real for the people it is meant to "protect", and will stunt the intellectual (and ethical) environment of our State on into the future. There is no good reason to scapegoat and demoralize a generation of kids who will likely stay in Georgia for the rest of their lives. They could make our State a better place too. These children’s families pay out of state tuition like any foreign student, their pay sales tax here, property tax indirectly through their rent payments, and often pay income taxes through a tax ID issued by the government. The Georgia immigrant kids that make it to the level of applying to college are talented and determined. Why hurt these young people, full of dynamism and ambition at a critical time in their lives? That's a backward and hateful way to treat children who go to school side by side with other Georgian children and feel like this is their home.

[spytheweb]

12:27 AM on 02/26/2012

"SB 458 is just a policy based on distaste for certain human beings"

If you are in the country legally, this does not effect you.

Illegal aliens want freebies and get mad when you won't give it to them.

[humansarehumans]

07:59 AM on 02/26/2012

What "freebies"? To work hard in fields and factories? Are you saying it is okay to be treat people with distaste for their humanity under certain circumstances? Mad is not the word that characterizes how people feel in AL, AZ, SC, and GA. More like "scared", "demoralized". How would it hurt you to extend a hand in compassion to your fellow man? If you are concerned that they are taking something away from you, think of what they give: good, desirable labor, the ambition to succeed in a new country, wonderful food, love for their children whom they want to give a better life. People will do desperate and even illegal things like crossing a dangerous border (where incidentally many die of thirst, heat exhaustion and abuse by coyotes) to try to have a better life. That's just the way humans are. Wouldn't you break the law if the future of your children was a stake?

[researcher1000]

02:44 PM on 03/01/2012

It affects all of us because, as our country as a whole, needs educated individuals. What freebie? They are paying for their education. As a matter of fact, if you think long term economics, once they receive their title there are two options. (1) be a professional in the US or, (2) be a professional abroad which will lead to them selling products to us. Like that small country named China that is doing very well.

One day, not too long from now, the table will turn and we may need them. What will your policy be then?

[CrestedSparrow]

12:54 PM on 02/26/2012

Thanks for your intelligence and compassion. F&F! #1

[Picosa]

04:51 PM on 02/27/2012

f&f # 2

[D-Driller]

04:09 AM on 02/25/2012

At the very least, charge them the International (no taxpayer dollar) rate. They should be afforded an education, but since they are illegal, they should obviously not receive any type of taxpayer help. Interestingly, many states are going the other way, actually giving illegals in-state tuition, which is absolutely shameful.

[spytheweb]

12:30 AM on 02/26/2012

They should do what other legal foreign students do, apply for a student visa from their home country. Not come here illegally and then apply.

[humansarehumans]

06:49 PM on 03/01/2012

spy the web, I wanted to reply to your other post about your and your son's military service, but it didn't have a reply button. I think returning Vets deserve society's respect and should receive much more support than they are getting. We don't agree on the other stuff, but maybe we can agree upon that. I'm just mad that GA keeps cutting the University system and giving tax breaks to Georgia Power and Insurance Companies. My heart is lit on fire when legislators say there aren't enough "spots" in an educational system that they've underfunded while the rich get richer in this state. I just want to see the kids that study hard make it. If they graduate as non-citizens they can leave and go work in other countries -- but they can go as middle class citizens of the world and not be downtrodden like their parents. Anyway, the GA State Senate should do something real for Vets instead of useless legislation that will hurt people and help no one.

[Greg34]

11:52 AM on 02/24/2012

Kudos to Georgia. I plan to claim 12 million dependants this year on my federal tax return. For you illegals, address me as sugar daddy please.

[dtairtime]

12:35 PM on 02/24/2012

Funny but scary because it's true.

Most anchors get some form of welfare. Since by their very definition it means there are illegals living in the household. So not only are we encouraging illegals to give birth here so their children can win the birthright by GPS lottery the parents are aslo winning big time.

And some people wonder why their birth rates are so high.

[Angel A Perez]

12:56 PM on 02/24/2012

I hope you're not advocating the removal of automatic citizenship. That's just a tool republicans want to use to keep the minority population down so that the majority whites will still decide elections.

[humansarehumans]

08:08 AM on 02/26/2012

Please reflect on your reference to a human being (perhaps a child) as an "anchor". Human beings who speed or break the law driving are not called "illegal drivers". What do we do when we call a person an "illegal"? We erase their life story as a human being, the choices they made, the dreams and the difficulty. There are 7 billion of us on planet earth now; all looking for jobs! People have economic problems and want a better life; we've always immigrated to find that. Your ancestors immigrated. Extend a hand of love to an immigrant family and you'll have a neighbor and friend. Call a human being illegal and you create sadness and a divided human community.

[Picosa]

01:09 PM on 02/24/2012

Get Americans OUT of Mexico. They created illegal immigration.
Then you can spout all the regurgitated propaganda and garbage you want.

Washington has already selected Mexico's next president.
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/4060/nntv-al-gores-mexican-adventure

Corrupt elitist Calderon was put in power by Bush, so Americans could keep stealing Mexico's Wealth.

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2006/07/341919.shtml

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2006/07/342179.shtml

quote:
If you look at the flows of money from North to South, and then from South to North, what you find is that the South is financing the North to the tune of about 200 billion dollars every year."

......"for us in the North to maintain this lifestyle, we have to plunge more people below the poverty line in the South." But if the South had cartels to raise the prices of their minerals and agricultur­al products, the economy of the North would collapse.
watch this documantary free here
http://www.hulu.com/watch/151119/the-end-of-poverty

quote:
....since the passage of NAFTA wages have decreased by 30 percent while the cost of living in Mexico has increased by 250 percent. Rather than improving the lives of Mexican workers, most of the new wealth created by NAFTA has flowed to the North as superprofi­ts for American capitalism­.
http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/conquest6.html

[Greg34]

01:21 PM on 02/24/2012

Sounds like you should return to your home country and change it instead of invade America. ACTC refundable tax credits that I pay for is treason. They go to illegals. I am native american so you are on my land, get out

[spytheweb]

12:43 AM on 02/26/2012

America will continue until countries band together and stop it, but until then this is the way things will remain.

Meanwhile illegal aliens are killing Americans inside the country everyday. People who are suppose to even be here.

[Viper1st]

10:39 AM on 02/24/2012

Note to Religious Leaders ~ since, November 6, 1986, it has been a Federal Felony to Transport, Conceal, Harbor, Aid & Abet illegals within the United States of America

http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/uscode/8/12/II/VIII/1324

[arizcitizen]

02:47 AM on 04/28/2012

A million new laws every day will be of absolutey no use UNLESS THEY ARE ENFORCED. obama chooses which immigration laws he wants to enforce and ignores the laws the citizens want enforced.

[freedom1947]

10:34 AM on 02/24/2012

Keep them dumb like Georgia kept blacks before the were forced to act like human beings.

[RobietheCat]

03:53 PM on 02/24/2012

You are confusing legal US Citizens and foreign invaders.

We owe the foreign invaders nothing.

[freedom1947]

05:03 PM on 02/24/2012

You must be a native american or just used to talking out of your rear.

[Picosa]

05:18 PM on 02/24/2012

What happened to this post by YOU:

"Gee Picosa, throughout human history, humans have migrated across, over and through continents. If you are going to make everyone go back to their original homeland, Africa will be quite crowded, and you will be quite busy sorting it out."

Practice what you preach!

[spytheweb]

12:50 PM on 02/27/2012

In the country of which they are citizens of. Illegal aliens have their own country of which they are free to return to at any time.

[freedom1947]

02:30 PM on 02/27/2012

You must be looking for one of those cotton pickin jobs. maybe even was dishes? When you're ready come by and mow my lawn.

[Viper1st]

09:04 AM on 02/24/2012

Per Article ~

"President Barack Obama's DREAM Act proposal"?

Not accurate ~

The DREAM Act legislation, first introduced into the U.S. Congress in 2001 ~ 11 years ago BO, (BO = Before Obama)

The DREAM Act has failed passage on 7 direct votes, most recently on Dec 18, 2010, failing passage by the U.S. Senate ~ just not resonating with the U.S. Taxpayer

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein, (attributed) US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

[researcher1000]

02:28 PM on 03/01/2012

DREAM Act would allow more "foreign" people, like Einstein, to become educated and part of our country.

[arizcitizen]

02:53 AM on 04/28/2012

Einstein was a World War Two refugee. The latinos don't have the same circumstances. Since 80 % of latinos can't read or write in any language, theirs or ours I doubt if there are a lot hiding Einsteins in those latino countries.

[Mailman]

08:23 AM on 02/24/2012

Mexico is the real problem, not anyone else these are their people and they get a pass for being a horrible country and treating their people like crap.

[GreggDourgarian]

02:04 AM on 02/24/2012

Employer Thankful e-Verify Lets Him Hire Illegals http://staffingtalk.com/employer-thankful-everify-lets-hire-illegals/

[Karissa36]

08:36 AM on 02/24/2012

It's not perfect, but it will get better, and it's a big start.

[dtairtime]

09:03 AM on 02/24/2012

That article is total baloney.

What business owner is seriously going to go on record saying those things?

Just because e-verify OK'd workers it does not absolve him of knowledge of hiring illegals. Now with that admission the fed can go after him with no problems because he openly confessed.

Or are you really that gullible?

[Armando Cedillo]

12:49 AM on 02/24/2012

What, pray tell, is so "harsh" about a law that requires employers to check the immigration status of potential workers? Is it "harsh" for movie theaters to require that I purchase a ticket before entering their establishment?

SB 458 makes total sense. If you violated our borders, deceived our immigration inspectors and snubbed our sovereignty, why should you be allowed to attend our tax-payer funded community colleges? You should be DEPORTED!

[Picosa]

01:24 AM on 02/24/2012

Make that law to include all big0ted Euroanchors and I will support it.

They should be DEPORTED!

[RobietheCat]

03:59 PM on 02/24/2012

Picosa, seriously, you wish the US was exactly like Mexico?

If you have any indio in you, you would never want to be an Indian in Mexico.

[spytheweb]

11:58 PM on 02/24/2012

Picosa, are you a American? Why do you have divided loyalties, or no loyalty at all?

[elmjcil]

07:35 AM on 02/24/2012

Armando makes much more sense than Picosa.

[Viper1st]

12:08 AM on 02/24/2012

"Four states--Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, and Indiana--bar undocumented students from receiving in-state tuition rates. In 2006, Arizona citizens passed Proposition 300, which prohibits undocumented students from qualifying for in-state tuition rates and any type of state financial aid. In 2008, the state legislatures in Colorado and Georgia passed bills that ban undocumented students from receiving in-state tuition rates. Also in 2008, South Carolina, in legislation titled the "Illegal Immigration Reform Act", prohibited undocumented students from enrolling in its state colleges or universities. In 2011, Indiana enacted HB 1402 requiring that students be lawfully present to receive in-state tuition benefits. Alabama joined South Carolina when a law was enacted in June 2011 preventing undocumented students from enrolling in public postsecondary institutions."

http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/educ/undocumented-student-tuition-state-action.aspx

[arresteddevelopment]

02:48 PM on 02/24/2012

Don't forget FL, our state senate just voted down yet another bill that would have given illegals in-state tuition!! Don't they get the hint by now??

[spytheweb]

12:03 AM on 02/25/2012

Don't forget Maryland who's citizens will vote it down come Nov.