Tuition Bill would hurt Md. students
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
By: Dan Stein

Baltimore Sun

Forget the fact that the legislation sitting on Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.’s desk to grant in-state tuition benefits to resident illegal aliens at the University of Maryland will cost taxpayers thousands of dollars a year per student at a time when the state is facing a fiscal crisis.

Let’s also put aside the issue of whether tuition breaks and other benefits and privileges extended to illegal immigrants encourage or reward illegal activity.

Let’s talk compassion.

Proponents of the in-state tuition legislation in Maryland and other states argue that we mustn’t punish the innocent children for the transgressions of the parents. In most cases, the students seeking admission and tuition subsidies did not make the choice to come to the United States illegally. Their parents brought them here.

They have a point. The problem, however, is that the people seeking compassion for the predicament of the children of illegal aliens are in essence making victims out of other people’s children.

They are not just asking Maryland’s taxpayers to pay the more than $9,000 difference between the full cost of the education and the subsidized in-state tuition in order to make it possible for a sympathetic group of illegal aliens to realize their dreams of a college education. They are asking other kids to sacrifice their own educational aspirations for this cause.

Two things to consider: The cost of a college education in a private institution is beyond the reach of many middle-class families who can neither afford the tuition nor qualify for many financial aid programs. Second, there are a finite number of seats available at public universities, meaning not everyone wanting to attend will get in.

It is easy to put a human face on the illegal alien student whose immigration status prevents him or her from benefiting from taxpayer-subsidized in-state tuition rates. That young man or woman can be readily identified and the media can report on the plight of this poor individual who finds him or herself in a state of legal and educational limbo.

What is easy to forget, however, is that if that illegal alien is admitted and provided with a substantial tuition subsidy, there is another student who is losing out. We may not be able to identify that other person quite as easily, but somewhere in the state there is another student who will not be able to attend the University of Maryland and who, for financial reasons, may not be able to attend a private college, either.

This other Marylander is also a victim of circumstance. This faceless student probably worked just as hard and has the same aspirations and potential as the illegal alien student. Not only that, this student’s family probably did not violate any laws. Yet this young man or woman would be forced to pay the price under this legislation.

That Maryland and other states are even debating this is proof that illegal immigration is not a victimless crime. Somebody gets hurt, and the only question is who should be held responsible. Should it be the taxpayers of Maryland, the sons and daughters of citizens and legal immigrants? Or should it be the parents who knowingly violated the law and, in doing so, created the unfortunate circumstances that their children now face?

Precedent says that we must hold the parents who broke the law responsible, even if it means that their innocent children are placed at a disadvantage. After all, Maryland does not hesitate to put parents in prison, even if their innocent kids inevitably suffer as a result. The state and federal governments impose stiff financial penalties against tax scofflaws, with the full understanding that innocent children will suffer as a result of the financial hardship. We regret the harm caused to the kids, but we hold the parents, not the state, primarily responsible for any negative consequences to innocent family members. Governor Ehrlich is something of a victim as well.

The long-term failure of the federal government to properly address the problem of mass illegal immigration, coupled with long-standing state policies of turning a blind eye to illegal aliens living in Maryland, forces him to make an unpleasant choice. Whether he signs the bill into law or vetoes it, somebody’s hopes will be dashed. It’s not a question of compassion; it’s a matter of dealing with reality.