Deseret Morning News editorial

Monday, January 8, 2007

(Deseret Morning News)

      Why some members of the Utah Legislature insist — year after year — on targeting illegal immigrants who pay in-state tuition at Utah's colleges and universities is beyond us. Perhaps they do it because patting themselves on the back for their moral superiority feels so good. Perhaps they use the issue as a sop to throw to the Minuteman crowd so they won't muddy the Capitol steps with protests.
      The truth is, only 182 students in the state have taken the tuition break. That hardly qualifies as a speed bump. Lobbyists probably buy that many lunches each week. And those 182 students are still paying the in-state rates.
      Just getting into college shows a tremendous amount of gumption and initiative on the part of young people who came to the country with two strikes against them — language and legality. They've done it by their bootstraps. We should be cheering these students on and holding them up as examples, not holding them down.
      There are pill pushers and there are bill pushers. In this case, the biggest "bill pusher" is Rep. Glenn Donnelson of North Ogden, who has apparently decided to take a page from the book of George Wallace. For the fourth time he is trying to repeal a 2002 law allowing undocumented students who have lived in Utah for three years and have graduated from a Utah high school to pay the same tuition as other Utahns. We expect to see him standing spread-eagle in the doorway of a dean's office at some point. Others are also responding to the rallying cry. Who do they think is taking advantage of the in-state tuition break? Members of the Bloods and the Crips? Pancho Villa? Fidel Castro?
      People may squeal when the following word surfaces, but targeting such a tiny number of pupils in an ocean of students does have overtones of (hush this up) racism.
      Reform is called for, but legislators shy from it. That might actually mean coming up with ideas and laws that deal with the situation as it is instead of presenting a Fantasyland alternative. It's easier to dog the boys and girls with schoolbooks beneath their arms than it is to rethink the issue.
      We're sorry, legislators, but June Cleaver has gone to her grave. It's a whole new world — one filled with confusion, but also with incredible opportunities. Get some new ideas or get out of the way of young people who actually are trying to get a life. Offer solutions that make sense or offer none at all. Don't clutter the agenda with your hobby horses.

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