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Politics & Government

Opinion: Response to DREAM Act Supporter

The author, a former elected member of the Baltimore County Republican Central Committee, responds to Sean Rutherford, president of the Baltimore County Young Democrats, who supports the law giving tax funded in-state tuition to illegal immigrants in Mary

I write in response to the letter submitted July 1 by Sean Rutherford, President of the Baltimore County Young Democrats, who supports the law giving tax funded in-state tuition to illegal immigrants in Maryland. 

is thoughtful and challenges opponents of the DREAM Act to respond. I applaud Mr. Rutherford’s willingness to put aside the tell-tale sign of desperation his colleagues have used with the race card on this issue. 

First, I will address the many items of misinformation that I believe leads him to his erroneous conclusion to support this bill, then I’ll add my further reasons for my strong and committed opposition. 

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First, the bill does not benefit children as he states. It is for college-age students, almost exclusively age 18 and up. Further, there is no stipulation on a maximum age for the benefit, so even though it starts with students in Maryland schools beginning in 2005, who would now be 22 years of age, in future years there will be beneficiaries decades older. 

Second, Mr. Rutherford argues that these students are innocent and being punished for the “sins of the father." Not giving someone a benefit is entirely different than punishing them, just as we are not punishing Pennsylvania legal citizens by not giving them in-state Maryland tuition. But again, as we are referring to adult illegal immigrants ages 18 to 22 and up, then these students are indeed adult offenders of our immigration laws who are following in the footsteps of their illegal parents. To say we should give them a benefit at taxpayers expense is like giving the stolen goods from a thief to the thief’s children rather than returning them to their rightful owner. 

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Third, Mr. Rutherford argues that the only option he sees is either paying for their tuition or deporting them all. My answer is that we already give them K-12 on taxpayers backs, and if this bill were truly about educating the workforce, we wouldn’t be spending it on individuals who cannot be legally hired in this country. I contend that, although deportation would be desirable, it cannot be achieved in one fell swoop as Mr. Rutherford tries to ridiculously assert, but must rather be done through a policy of not rewarding those who break our laws, coupled with enforcement. Instead, Maryland’s open arms policies have made it one of the most attractive sanctuary states in the nation for illegal immigrants. 

Fourth, Mr. Rutherford denies in one paragraph that the bill affords tuition to students beyond community college, then admits it in the next. A quick read through the language of the bill will prove that four year institutions are included in the benefits.  The requirement is that the student first attend 60 credits at community college, at which point they can then apply at four-year institutions.  So, the $17,000 difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition at UMCP that taxpayers would be forced to pay would pay for reduced tuition for one illegal immigrant.  In contrast, the same $17,000 could be used to pay for the entire tuition bill of two disadvantaged legal Maryland citizens to UMCP. If the bill were really about education, it would be dramatically more effective if the money were spent on legal citizens, would it not? This begs the question then: why did our Democratic lawmakers single out illegal immigrants for this benefit? 

I have many further reasons for opposing this monstrous bill. 

The bill encourages legal immigrants to become illegal. The language specifically excludes legal immigrants such as those holding student visas, and according to Attorney General Gansler’s own opinion, if they simply overstay their visa, they would then have the opportunity to qualify for the benefits. A more blatant slap in the face to those entering our country the legal way could scarcely be delivered. 

In addition, media repetitiously echoes that the parents of the student must be taxpayers. False. The bill requires only that the student or the parents have filed tax returns for three years. They can even back file three years of returns if they’ve never filed before and pay no taxes, just to qualify. For instance, an 18 year old student getting ready for college could back file from the years he was age 15-17, pay no taxes, and qualify for tax-funded tuition. Interestingly, a previous version of the bill had stated they must show income tax withheld, but that language was struck out of the final version. Why? 

Maryland cannot afford this bill.  The estimated cost of $3.5 million by 2016 is horribly underestimated, because it is based on the number of students enrolled in one community college who would currently qualify, and doesn’t take into account the many more who would be attracted by the passage of the bill.  Also, it only provides projections on the costs for community college, not the much more expensive costs of tuition for a four-year institution.  Indeed, with current deficits in the state, we cannot afford what could lead to a bankruptcy of our state like what is happening in California.

The bill would raise costs for higher education for all students and take limited spots at the universities.  The increased demand for education that the bill would stimulate would raise costs across the board and be passed on to all students through increased tuition and fees.  Because the bill will not allow the college to include the additional illegal students toward its in-state count, it would bump limited spots for out-of-state students.  That means that legal American citizens from other states would be competing for increasingly limited spots at Maryland universities.  So instead of tuition money coming in to the university from out-of-state students, it will be paid for at taxpayer expense by Maryland residents. 

Finally, life is Pavlovian folks. When we reward bad behavior, we invite more of it. Instead of rewarding illegal immigrants first, and hoping they will then apply for citizenship the correct way after years of not doing so, let’s put the horse before the cart and simply require that they go through the legal process before we hand out any rewards.

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