Illegal Immigrants May Not Be Allowed To Attend Some State Schools

Michelle Wirth (2010-09-21)

ATLANTA (WABE) – A Georgia Board of Regents committee is recommending that illegal immigrants not be allowed to enroll five Georgia colleges and universities that currently cannot admit all academically qualified applicants. The five institutions potentially affected include the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Georgia State. John Millsaps is a spokesman for the state’s Board of the Regents:

“There is a concern that an undocumented student is taking a seat from a legal Georgia resident. This policy would address that concern.”

Millsaps says those students would be able to attend any of the other 30 state schools. But Jerry Gonzalez with Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials says the recommendation would place the Georgia Board of Regents in the role of immigration cops. He also says the state would waste talented contributors.

“These students compete academically with other students. They have earned their place in a university setting. Do we want to water down our flagship institutions to accept less qualified students?”

Millsaps says those students would be able to attend any of the other 30 state schools. D.A. King with anti-illegal immigrant organization, The Dustin Inman Society, applauds the recommendations. But he does not believe that the committee’s actions are student driven.

“They were not trying to protect American students in their discussion. They kept saying if we don’t do this, the legislature may step in and we want to keep control.”

The committee also recommended that Georgia schools verify the immigration status of students. At the moment, undocumented students are allowed to attend state universities if they pay out of state tuition. The measure is scheduled to be voted on by the full board of next month.
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