Illegal immigrants in Rhode Island can get an education through high school, but the guarantee ends there. If they want to go to college in the state, they must pay the same tuition as out-of-state students.
Some lawmakers argue that this isn’t fair and are trying to change the law. Last week, a key House committee held a hearing on a bill by state Representative Grace Diaz (D-Providence) that would allow illegal immigrants who have graduated from high school in Rhode Island to pay in-state tuition rates at state colleges. The bill (H7973) also would apply to undocumented immigrants who meet other conditions, such as attending high school in the state for at least three years.
In-state applicants currently must be American citizens or have a permanent resident card to qualify for in-state college tuition, which is much cheaper than paying out-of-state costs (nearly $13,000 less at the University of Rhode Island, and a more than $7000 savings at Rhode Island College).
If enacted, Rhode Island would join 10 other states with laws that allow certain undocumented immigrant students to receive in-state tuition, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Bills to repeal the law are being considered in four of those states, however.
Diaz says the measure would help to lift undocumented immigrants out of poverty and augment the educational level of the state’s workforce. “I know a lot of good students, A+ [grades], and when they finish high school, their friends go to college, and they stay back,” says Diaz, a first-term lawmaker who emigrated from the Dominican Republic in 1990. “They cannot accomplish the dreams they have.”
It’s unclear how many students would be eligible if the bill became law. The biggest beneficiary would likely be the Latino community, which with a population of 90,820 in 2000, is the state’s largest minority group. Forty-three percent of Latinos in Rhode Island are under 19 years old, according to a recent Rhode Island Foundation report.
Opponents contend the bill contravenes a federal law stipulating that illegal immigrants cannot receive in-state tuition unless it is granted to all US citizens and that it would cost taxpayers money. “The government is going to pay for their tuition, just as it did with their K-12 education,” says William “Terry” Gordon, who spoke at the committee hearing on behalf of the newly formed Rhode Islanders for Immigration Law Enforcement.
Diaz countered the state would make money because it would get tuition and fees from students who otherwise wouldn’t go to college.
Immigrant advocates say making in-state tuition available for all Rhode Island high school graduates is about honoring what makes America great — opportunity. “We’re talking about residents that have gone [to school] here. This is the only country they know,” says Wilfred Ordonez, a community organizer with Progreso Latino, who testified at the hearing. “It’s not a reward for them. It’s a reward for Rhode Island.”
No committee vote has been scheduled on Diaz’s bill or a similar bill introduced by state Senator Juan Pichardo (D-Providence).
