Connecticut recently joined a group of 12 states that allow in-state illegal immigrants to attend public universities for in-state tuition rates. For undocumented students, this can save them nearly $17,000 in schooling costs that make having a college education far more accessible.
The law requires that students attend high school in Connecticut for four years, and to promise their university or college that he or she will apply for legal status as soon as is possible. Proponents of the law believe this will give children raised as Americans the same rights and opportunities as their legalized counterparts. However, opponents claim that these students are taking the rightful places of legal residents at these universities.
The law is part of a national movement, called the DREAM Act, to make it easier for illegal immigrants to both get an education and become a citizen more easily. However, the movement has been shot down in Washington repeatedly.
It is estimated that only about 50 or fewer illegal immigrants will attend college in-state for lower tuition this year, but enrollment could increase to about 250 as more students sign up for community colleges in particular. University of Connecticut reports that they will have less than 10 illegal immigrants enrolling.
Although the law will gave many the opportunity for an education that they would otherwise not have had, the problems don’t end there. Applying for legal resident status, as the law requires students to do, can lead to deportation. Schools do not give financial aid to illegal residents, making the (even lower) cost of university still difficult to pay for. And once the student has graduated, illegals still cannot work legally in the United States. Although the law is indeed progressive, it essentially creates a Catch-22 for illegal immigrants who want to live and learn in the United States.
Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/07/illegal-immigrant-instate_n_892…