Arkansas report: $170 million a year spent on services to immigrants
A report prepared for Arkansas legislators concludes the state spends $170 million a year on services to immigrants, including about $154 million for education. A separate report earlier this year found that was a fraction of the amount that immigrants contribute to the state's economy. State agencies say it is sometimes impossible to tell whether legal or illegal immigrants are benefiting from state services. "Immigration law is about as bad as tax laws with all of the ifs, ands or buts," says Andre Guerrero, director of programs for language minority students at the Arkansas Department of Education. For example, he said, pupils in the country illegally can be educated in public schools at the state's expense, but Arkansas won't let them qualify for state-funded college scholarships. "Their counselors very proudly are preparing them to go to college (and say), ‘There's something you need to know.’ And at that point, these doors close to these children, these students," he says. The idea of tax dollars paying to educate the children of illegal immigrants drew criticism from several lawmakers during a joint House and Senate committee meeting. State Rep. Rick Green suggested requiring incoming students to furnish a Social Security number. Mr. Guerrero said that would be "chilling." Recent studies have concluded about half of the state's immigrant population lives in the United States illegally. The Arkansas study comes after legislatures in Oklahoma and Tennessee passed strict laws regarding illegal immigration. Rep. Green warned Arkansas could become "a safe haven" for illegal immigrants without stricter laws. State Rep. Billy Wade Gaskill urged his colleagues to get "cranked up" on ways to solve the problems of illegal immigration, but cautioned against simple suspicion of outsiders.
Boston Globe By Jon Gambrell (Associated Press)
[Editor’s Note: Under a resolution adopted by NSBA’s Delegate Assembly, "NSBA supports state legislation that allows for in-state tuition and other incentives for students to pursue higher education for all residents that graduate from American high schools, including undocumented immigrant students." See item 8 in the document below.]
NSBA 2007 Delegate Assembly Resolutions