The Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce supports keeping in place a state law that allows some undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at state colleges and universities.

But those working to repeal the law aren't deterred by the chamber's support. They say the tuition benefit is prohibited by federal law and is making Utah vulnerable to potential litigation.

Robin Riggs, vice president and general counsel for the Salt Lake Chamber, said the chamber's Board of Governors passed a resolution that supports keeping the tuition law in place. The decision, he said, is about fairness for students who have met the state's residency requirements.

The tuition law requires that students attend a Utah high school for at least three years and graduate from a Utah high school, or the equivalent, to qualify for in-state tuition.

"We don't see any compelling reason they should be denied in-state tuition for something they had nothing to do with, which is documentation," Riggs said.

The Salt Lake Chamber has nearly 2,000 members and is the state's largest business association, Riggs said.

In June, the Education Interim Committee voted to recommend passing a bill sponsored by Rep. Glenn Donnelson, R-North Ogden, to repeal the tuition benefit.

Donnelson said it's not fair for illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition, when legal immigrants with student visas and U.S. citizens from other states pay out-of-state rates.

"It's absolutely not fair, and it needs to stop," Donnelson said. "It's about time to clamp down and send illegals back."

The dismissal of a federal lawsuit challenging a similar tuition law in Kansas has been appealed to the federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which also oversees Utah.

Rep. Dave Ure, R-Kamas, who sponsored the tuition benefit, said a growing number of business and religious groups are backing efforts to keep it in place.

"It's going to take a lot of pressure from the public in order for it not to pass," Ure said of the repeal.

"Utah is supposed to be a state that welcomes everyone from every part of the world," he said. "We believe in education. . . . To take this away, I think would fly in the face of everything our ancestors stood for."

The Salt Lake Chamber's resolution mentions the Utahns for the American Dream coalition, which also supports the tuition benefit.

Luz Robles, director of the state Office of Ethnic Affairs, whose office is listed as a member of the coalition, said a representative of her office has attended coalition meetings to stay informed on the issue.

"As part of the ethnic branch we cannot take any position," she said. "We are just there to listen and to understand. . . . It's in the hands now of the ethnic communities to take their own advocacy roles."

Kim Langton, chief executive officer of Centro de la Familia and a member of Utahns for the American Dream, said it's a group interested in educational issues including in-state tuition.

"Right now we're just hearing a lot of things from a lot of different people," he said. "We feel like the current law is a good thing."

---

E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com