NC Senate Bill Introduced to Prohibit Illegal Aliens from Community Colleges

Senate Bill 2019, "An Act to prohibit illegal aliens from attending North Carolina community colleges and appropriating funds for the verification of prospective students' immigration status,"

June 1, 2008

WAKE COUNTY NC NEWS -- On May 27, 2008, Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger actually had to introduce Senate Bill 2019, to resolve the ongoing debate about illegal aliens' eligibility to attend North Carolina's community colleges. Senate Bill 2019, "An Act to prohibit illegal aliens from attending North Carolina community colleges and appropriating funds for the verification of prospective students' immigration status," will prohibit North Carolina's community colleges from admitting students who are not legal residents of the United States. Now, isn't the word "criminal" a synonym for "illegal," which is defined as "not according to or authorized by law," so what is the problem in the Senate? According to Senator Phil Berger, some North Carolina politicians, led by Democrat Governor Mike Easley, are encouraging the community college system to ignore the legal opinion of the North Carolina Attorney General's office. Furthermore, Democrat members of the General Assembly have introduced legislation to require admission of illegal immigrants.

Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger released the following statement on May 28, 2008:

"Even after the Attorney General's opinion that illegal aliens are not eligible for admission to North Carolina's community colleges, questions about admission issues linger. Our citizens expect state law and government policy to be clear and reflect their common sense views; by large margins, they do not support admitting illegal immigrants to the state's community colleges. Many people think the current prohibition will be changed after the general election and want to put the force of statute behind the present policy. Unless this bill is enacted, there will be nothing to stop administrators from ignoring the clear will of North Carolina's taxpaying citizens. I call on the chairs of the Senate Appropriations Committee to act on this legislation."

Additionally, the cosponsors of Senate Bill 2019, are:

• Senator Austin M. Allran (Rep) Catawba and Iredell counties
• Senator Stan Bingham (Rep) of Davidson and Guilford counties
• Senator Andrew C. Brock (Rep) of Davie and Rowan counties
• Senator Peter S. Brunstetter (Rep) of Forsyth County
• Senator James Forrester (Rep) of Gaston, Iredell and Lincoln counties
• Senator Neal Hunt (Rep) of Wake County
• Senator Jim Jacumin (Rep) of Burke and Caldwell counties
• Senator Fred Smith (Rep) of Johnston and Wayne counties

Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger's bill is eligible for consideration during this North Carolina General Assembly's legislative short session as it contains a proposed appropriation for costs associated with verifying residence status for perspective students. Senate Bill 2019, "An Act to prohibit illegal aliens from attending North Carolina community colleges and appropriating funds for the verification of prospective students' immigration status," has been referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee, a forty-six-member committee of 30 Democrats, including Senator Tony "I ain't got no job" Foriest and 16 Republicans.