Children of undocumented immigrants may be considered for in-state tuition at UW-Madison if a provision in the state's budget passes this session. This provision, supported by state Rep. Pedro Col??n, D-Milwaukee, is beginning to cause controversy among the Republican-controlled state Legislature.
Andy Jannsen, legislative director for Col??n, said, \For 20 years kids [of undocumented immigrants] under 18 have been eligible for K-12 public education. Once they leave high school, for all intents and purposes, they are residents of the state that they live in.""
The assembly bill makes non-U.S. citizens eligible for in-state tuition if they graduate from a Wisconsin high school and provide the district board with an affidavit stating they have filed or will file an application for a permanent resident visa with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Andre Jacque, spokesperson for state Sen. Tom Reynolds, R-West Allis, the leading opponent of the bill, said this will be difficult to implement. The promise to file a visa application is not feasible, he said.
""These are people who don't have a social security number ... there is no way we can hold them to sign if they don't have legal status,"" Jacque said.
According to Jannsen, California, Utah and New York have adopted such legislation without a court challenge. Legislation is pending in Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland and Washington. President George W. Bush also signed a similar law when he governed Texas.
However, Jacque stated support for this bill is not extensive in Wisconsin.
""This bill would not even likely enjoy the support of the Democratic majority ... it's only [supported] by largely the far left of the caucus,"" he said.
Last session, this provision was approved with support from both parties. Former Gov. Scott McCallum vetoed the provision out of the budget.
Groups such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform oppose the bill. A letter from FAIR to McCallum urged him to veto the bill, stating it violates federal law by giving a benefit to undocumented immigrants, while not giving that same benefit to other U.S. citizens.
According to a memo sent to state legislators by Col??n, this bill is legally viable. In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court held, in Plyler v. Doe, that a state may not deny school-age undocumented immigrants the right to free public K-12 education.
""Just because there was a Supreme Court decision doesn't mean that we should be extending that to higher education and extend taxpayer funding benefits,"" Jacque said.
UW System Regent Fred Mohs voiced his opposition to such a provision.
""I am totally opposed. We don't give in-state tuition to out-of-state people, and these are citizens of other countries ... I am totally unequivocal about the subject--absolutely not,"" Mohs said.
However, Jannsen said the legislation has been tried in other states and has been successful.
""We're not reinventing the wheel here, we're just giving these kids a chance to go to pursue college and become productive taxing members of our society,"" he said.