Repeal of tuition break for immigrants advances

The tearful plea of an undocumented immigrant college student failed to sway a House committee that Friday backed repealing the law that allows him to pay in-state tuition at the University of Utah.

Instead, arguments of fairness to other students and federal immigration law won over members of the House Education Committee, which after a two-hour hearing voted 9-5 to move HB224 to a debate by the full House.

U. student Jose Rodriguez told the committee members that he's lived in Utah since he was 8 years old, and his family is attempting to obtain legal status. He expressed a hope that "one day I will be able to stay in Utah and serve the greater community. ... I don't want to tell my little brother to his face that he can't go to college like I did."

HB224 would repeal a 2002 law that allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition if they have attended a Utah high school for three years and graduated. Out-of-state students pay roughly three times the amount of tuition charged to in-state students. The repeal wouldn't impact college students who are already enrolled.

"What we are doing here is just encouraging breaking the law," said sponsoring Rep. Glenn Donnelson, R-North Ogden. "We can't continue to do that."

This is the fourth time Donnelson has attempted to repeal the 2002 law, which was passed in anticipation of the federal DREAM Act. That measure, which has yet to become federal law, would have made it possible for students to earn legal status by attending college.

In the 2005-06 school year, 182 students took advantage of Utah's tuition waiver for a total savings of $887,790 over what they would have paid in out-of-state tuition. The bill's fiscal note estimates a loss of about $200,000 next year if the students were to stop attending.

This fall, 241 undocumented students were enrolled at the U., Salt Lake Community College and Utah Valley State College, the three schools with the highest attendance under the waiver.

Many of those who testified, including Michelle Seegmiller, whose son attends SLCC, questioned the law's fairness to out-of-state and international students who pay the higher rate. "They are being rewarded with free public education and (cheaper) tuition," she said.

University of Missouri law professor Kris Kobach, an attorney in lawsuits over similar laws in Kansas federal court and California state court, testified Utah could be at risk for similar suits. Both cases were dismissed and are in the appeals process.