OF THE important issues facing America in the 21st century, illegal immigration can be one of the easiest to ignore. Illegal immigration is, in college terminology, a course in which the grade is based entirely on a final exam. As college students know, the temptation to procrastinate is great, and for decades very little has been done to address the chronic problem. Recently, however, politicians have begun to pay attention to the polls, which indicate voter anxiety over illegal immigration, and do what they do best: use the issue for political advantage. Currently, the Virginia Assembly is considering over 40 bills dealing with illegal immigration. While many would have little effect on students at the University, three deal specifically with public universities and colleges in Virginia. Two bills would prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving in-state tuition, but HB 892 would go even further: it would outlaw the admission of illegal immigrants to public universities.
Taking into account the purpose of public education, it's hard to understand exactly why HB 892 is so controversial. There is a reason why few out of state students are admitted to public universities: the educational system supported by Virginia tax money focuses on educating the students of Virginia. It is difficult to justify filling the seats of a public university with students whose presence violates American law, instead of citizens or legal foreign students. Even more difficult to comprehend is the opposition to bills that would prohibit the granting of in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. Asking law-abiding citizens of Virginia not only to admit illegal immigrants to their universities, but also to subsidize their education, is patently absurd.
According to an article in the Washington Post, the population of illegal immigrants in Virginia has tripled since 1996 to an estimated 180,000. This infusion of illegal immigrants is a tremendous burden on government infrastructure. A 2005 study by the University of Florida found that each illegal immigrant family costs the state of Florida $1,800 more per year in welfare and other social services than it pays in taxes. If this calculation, which is one of the more conservative studies, is applied to Virginia, then illegal immigration costs the state $324 million. Denying state-subsidized education to illegal immigrants would reduce their incentive to come to Virginia, and hence the burden on Virginia's taxpayers.
With such a compelling case for limiting the payouts to illegal aliens, many opponents of the bills do not even attempt to point out logical problems in them. Rather, they make ad hominem attacks, and attempt to minimize the fact that the presence of illegal immigrants is exactly that, illegal. State Sen. Russell Potts, for example, said "I'm not in favor of illegal immigrants, but I also know we are a nation of immigrants." When people point out that previous immigrants to America came here legally and openly, they are simply accused of being uncaring about the poor. Another commonly raised objection to the bills is that they punish children who immigrated illegally with their parents. While no one wants to punish children for a crime they didn't choose to commit, it is perfectly fair to expect the students whose tuition is partly paid by American taxes to adhere to the rules of that society.
Opponents of the bills do raise a valid point, which is that the United States is in danger of having a patchwork of state immigration laws. Indeed, ideally the federal government should be setting a uniform immigration policy for the country. However, as even most opponents of the bills acknowledge, the federal government's control of the borders has been a complete failure. When the federal government neglects its responsibility to control access into our country, state governments are completely justified in addressing the problems themselves. To do nothing because it is the duty of another branch would be irresponsible.
By continuing to disregard illegal immigration, the federal government has left state governments with no choice but to address the problem themselves. While Virginia legislators won't be able to stop the entire problem by themselves, prohibiting illegal immigrants from public universities will reduce their incentives to remain here unlawfully. Hopefully, barring illegal aliens from Virginia universities will remind the federal government that most Americans want their laws to be respected. Perhaps Washington will finally wake up, ignore misinformation put out by illegal immigration supporters, and decide to enforce our country's laws.
Stephen Parsley's column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at sparsley@cavalierdaily.com.
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