Saturday, Mar. 07, 2009

RALEIGH — A proposed law in the N.C. House may permanently prevent illegal immigrants from attending credit classes at community colleges in North Carolina.

House Bill 294 will prohibit illegal or undocumented immigrants from receiving any post-secondary education from public institutions. This includes community colleges and public universities in North Carolina. Private colleges are not included in the legislation.

"The admissions standards of the State Board of Community Colleges and the admissions standards of all local community colleges shall prohibit the admission of persons who are not lawfully present in the United States, except as otherwise required by federal law," according to the proposed bill.

If passed, the bill would take effect Oct. 1.

Mark Hilton, who represents Catawba County, and Mitchell Setzer, who represents Catawba and Iredell counties, co-sponsored the bill. Both are Republicans.

Something needs to be done about illegal immigration at the state level, Hilton said of his support for the bill.

"We require the federal government to have most of the responsibility, and they're not really doing what they should," he said. "We want to send a message. If you want to be here, you need to go through the process and get papers."

Setzer agrees with Hilton.

"I don't know of anybody that minds legal migration, but there is a process, and it needs to be adhered to," Setzer said. "They need to become legal citizens. This is an effort to bring that forward."

Three illegal immigrants attend Catawba Valley Community College today. To be accepted into the school, the students had to indicate on their application their citizenship and residency status, said Mary Miller, community relations director for the college.

Students who indicated they were non-U.S. citizens must produce documentation, either in the form of a Resident Alien card or a non-immigrant Visa, Miller said. Until students produce either of these, the applicant remains undocumented.

Illegal immigrants who are attending community colleges must pay out-of-state tuition, as well. At CVCC, that means they are paying $3,733 for a full semester of 16 or more credit hours. If students were paying by credit hour, the out-of-state students pay $232.

A lot of people are concerned about illegal immigration, Hilton and Setzer said, and this bill addresses some of those concerns.

"We shouldn't be giving them services that taxpayers pay for," Hilton said. "We use taxpayer money for the buildings and staff and it bothers me."

One possible problem with the legislation is that it makes no reference to whether illegal immigrants can take not-for-credit classes, such as GED classes or adult basic education, which is currently allowed.

Those classes might go either way, said Ben Stanley, a staff attorney for the General Assembly,
"There was a Supreme Court case in 1983, which said people are entitled to K-12 education, that you cannot bar people from it," he said. "Does a GED qualify as that? I don't know how that would shake out in court."

The Board of Community Colleges is conducting a study on the effects of illegal immigrants on the community college system. The Board hopes the study offers some guidance on ways to handle the illegal immigration problem in the state's education system. It is expected to be finished in April.

The House bill has been referred to the committee on education to review.

"Whether the committee takes it up is the will of the chair," Setzer said.

Hilton is more positive about the bill.

"There's overwhelming support for it on the House floor. If we can get a hearing for it, I think it would pass," he said.

Of course we all know that Catawba county, NC. is where the CFPA has its national headquarters so a bill like this is important to us. The people of North Carolina are about tired of the financial drain illegal immigrants have been causing in these hard times and they feel that citizens should come first. It's the same way in the countries where these illegals come from, citizens there come first, so before the Liberal-Left starts accusing such a bill as being xenophobic then they'll have to accuse the Latin-American countries (where most illegals come from) of the same thing....but they won't. You'll never hear the pro-illegal immigrant front ever mention that in Latin-America there are strong laws protecting their citizens over those of their illegals....the only intolerant country on earth, to hear them talk, is the United States of America. So much for the Liberals hypocritical claim that they are "fair minded"!

Also in the news:

Friday, Mar. 06, 2009

N.C. Republicans want to require contractors eligible for stimulus money to verify all employees' Social Security numbers.

Saying illegal immigrants shouldn't profit from the stimulus package, N.C. lawmakers have introduced legislation that would require contractors eligible for the federal money to verify their employees' immigration status.

The legislation, sponsored by 32 Republicans, was spurred in part by an Observer report that thousands of N.C. jobs created by the stimulus effort could go to illegal immigrants.

“This is Americans' money, and we ought to make sure Americans are getting these jobs,” said state Rep. Wil Neumann, a Gaston County Republican and primary sponsor of the bill.

The White House estimates the $789 billion package will generate or save some 105,000 jobs in North Carolina over the next two years.

Congress stripped language from the package that would have required employers seeking stimulus money to use E-Verify, a federal program that checks Social Security numbers.

It's impossible to say exactly how many illegal immigrants will get jobs. But multiple studies say at least 14 percent of the country's construction labor is here illegally. Experts say actual numbers are likely much higher.

North Carolina could get $1.3 billion for highway and school construction, which, based on federal estimates, could mean more than 5,000 jobs for undocumented workers.

“One job going to an illegal immigrant is one too many as far as I'm concerned,” said state Rep. George G. Cleveland, a Republican from Jacksonville who introduced the bill with Neumann.

Opponents of E-Verify say it's a flawed program, expensive and would hinder economic recovery.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that expanding the federal verification program could cost $17 billion over the next 10 years.

Rep. Jennifer Weiss, a Wake County Democrat, noted the cost, and said she finds it ironic that many people who opposed the economic-recovery package now want to dictate how it is put in place.

“The goal is to get the economy going as quickly and efficiently as possible,” she said. “We have a lot of people in North Carolina who are hurting, and we need to get them back to work, protect their homes and turn around the economy.”

Romeo Carrera, a local Spanish-language radio host, said he hopes the verification bill fails. He said states shouldn't be creating laws on a federal issue.

“What happens is you get laws directed at one segment of the community,” said Carrera, host of Los Cascabeles del Gato on 1030-AM in Charlotte. “The laws may be legal, but they're unfair – and immoral.”

The bill's prospects are unclear. Both houses of the N.C. legislature are controlled by Democrats. Yet some Democrats are likely to cross over.

At the very least, experts say, Republicans want to send a message to their base.

With the unemployment rate in North Carolina at more than 8 percent, supporters of the bill say they want to protect American workers, not play politics.

“We should have been doing this before,” said Ron Woodard, the director of NC Listen, which favors tougher immigration laws. “But now it would be egregious not to do it. People are hurting.”

CFPA News Button

07 Mar. 2009