Easley: Illegal Immigrants Deserve Education

Raleigh, N.C. — North Carolina cannot turn its back on anyone who wants a better education, including illegal immigrants, Gov. Mike Easley said Tuesday.

Easley reiterated his support for a policy shift in the North Carolina Community College System that allows qualified illegal immigrants to attend any of the state's 58 community colleges as an out-of-state student.

About 340 illegal immigrants are enrolled statewide, officials said.

Easley said he understands why many North Carolina residents oppose the idea, but he also said that anyone who studies the issue would support it.

"What people are upset about, they care deeply about their citizenship. It really means something to them," he said. "All the governors allow kids – illegal immigrants – to go to community colleges because they don't want to build an underclass in their state. All the states do that."

Changing the policy would hurt innocent victims of the debate, he said.

"We're not talking about 50-year-olds who are jumping the fence to go to school. We're talking about little kids who've grown up here through no fault of their own. They don't know where they were born."

It also would harm North Carolina's economyto bar the students, he said.

"If you slam the door on them, you lose that talent. If you don't take advantage of it, it's just kind of dumb."

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Betrayed by a leftist socialist. Buh bye Easley!!

ncguy
December 13, 2007 8:43 a.m.

The Universities and colleges will be charging out of state tuition and the fact of the matter is, most of then that are here illegally cannot afford to pay out of state tuition. So the actual number that take advantage of it will be minimal. Bull: how long do you think it would take for them to start receiving government grants and instate tuition and take your job because they would work for less. Bill Gates is looking to hirer more people from other nations because he can not fine quality here (bull) cheaper labor. Bill Gates is the riches man in America.

coolwill
December 13, 2007 8:33 a.m.

While these young people can obtain a college degree, and even become a doctor, they will not be able to drive because they can't obtain a driver's license.

One would think that the Governor would want to also educate the Latino drivers about safe driving and the importance of not drinking and driving. But they also can't obtain a driver's license because they don't have a social security card. So we will continue to deprive illegal immigrants any incentives to learn the rules of the road, proper registration and insurance, protecting us all.

If traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for this population and they pose a significant health hazard to other highway users, why are we not educating this population and guaranteeing that they possess minimal skills and the privilege to drive?

Oh, because they entered the US illegally, which has nothing to do with SAFE driving, saving countless lives.

A common sense approach would distinguish the difference between the two

reality4sure
December 13, 2007 7:46 a.m.

claudnc...my nephew was actually turned down for an academic "tuition only" scholarship from Duke, not UNC (sorry, my mistake). He graduated with a 4.7 GPA and was valedictorian of his class. He later learned that two other kids from his class with lower GPA's were given full ride scholarships to Duke. These boys were considered a minority, my nephew was not.

GIGATT
December 13, 2007 7:39 a.m.

Imback " what we expect from our representatives, the rule of law and you arent going to find that out listening to some professor at UNC who hasnt had a real job since the 1960s."

Wow...complain about immigrants getting in-state tuition at our public universities, but yet say the professors at those universities don't hold real jobs. Looks like someone other than the immigrants needs to be educated.

chavke
December 13, 2007 6:59 a.m.