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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December 13, 2007 8:43 a.m.
December 13, 2007 8:33 a.m.
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
December 13, 2007 7:46 a.m.
December 13, 2007 7:39 a.m.
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.
December 13, 2007 6:59 a.m.