Dream Act perpetuates, funds illegal immigration
In 2001, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1403 to provide in-state tuition benefits for undocumented students residing in Texas. As written, the law was designed to help children already living here and brought to the United States illegally through no fault of their own.
Fourteen years later, the needs of those children have been met. We kept our promise to them, and they have moved through our school system. Now it’s time to renew our focus on encouraging a safe and legal immigration system that rewards following the law.
We cannot afford to subsidize illegal immigration in perpetuity. Setting aside taxpayer dollars for noncitizens who haven’t come to this country yet, and will arrive here illegally when they do, is bad public policy. HB 1403 is not just fiscally irresponsible; it fails to address the root of the problem — a porous border and broken immigration system.
Our state’s precious resources and limited slots at four-year universities should be directed, first and foremost, to serve the educational needs of Texas residents. That is the whole purpose of offering a subsidized tuition rate to legal Texas residents in the first place.
Almost 25,000 undocumented immigrants received in-state tuition benefits or qualified for taxpayer-funded grants worth nearly $33 million in 2013. This was up dramatically from 2007, when only 10,000 undocumented students accepted in-state tuition benefits. Projecting this trend forward, Texas taxpayers will be awarding $100 million worth of in-state tuition benefits and grants to undocumented students in the year 2020.
The Obama administration’s failure to secure the border and enforce existing immigration laws will only exacerbate these costs. Last year, 60,000 undocumented children made the dangerous trek here from Central America — and that number is projected to be between 20,000 to 30,000 in 2015.
While institutions of higher education have asked state lawmakers to address the rising cost of tuition benefits for the children of our veterans by reforming the legacy requirements of the Hazlewood Act, the majority have opposed efforts to end the rising cost of tuition benefits for students unlawfully in this country. This is a grave disservice to the men and women who have served our nation so bravely.
As a state senator, I took an oath to uphold the law and serve the needs of Texas residents. I cannot in good con- science support a policy that puts the needs of noncitizens ahead of Texans — especially when many noncitizens will be unable to legally work in our state upon graduation.
Immigrants seek refuge in Texas and the United States because we are a nation that adheres to the rule of law and places an exceptional value on what it means to be a citizen. When we fail to enforce immigration laws and create loopholes for those who disregard our laws, we violate the very foundation of what makes our nation a beacon of hope to nearly 2 million legal immigrants every year. This is by far the most legal immigrants entering any nation on the planet.
Rather than encouraging a safe, legal, and orderly immigration system, the socalled Texas Dream Act passed in 2001 rewards illegal immigration in perpetuity. It is better to repeal it now, as SB 1819 does, than to wait for costs to skyrocket.
While proponents of the Texas Dream Act like to point to the $51 million undocumented immigrants spend on tuition and fees at Texas universities and colleges, this total includes grants and financial assistance provided by taxpayers and universities. In reality, these are the very dollars that should and would be received and paid for by Texas residents if HB 1403 were repealed.
Meanwhile, phasing out in-state tuition benefits for undocumented students will not deny a college education or college admission to anyone. All it does is require that those who aren’t here legally pay a tuition rate equal to the same rate paid by students from 49 other states.
Only 16 states provide in-state tuition rates for undocumented immigrants; only four states besides Texas subsidize the education of undocumented students with additional state grant money. This is clearly outside the mainstream.
Illegal immigration is dangerous, breaks up families, promotes lawlessness and puts lives at risk. Texans should be doing everything we can to stop it and to end policies that promote and enable a broken immigration system.
Campbell, R-New Braunfels, is a state senator whose district includes Austin.