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<DIV align=right><FONT size=-1>Tuesday, November 19, 2002</FONT><BR><BR></DIV>
<P><FONT size=-1>http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/11/2002111902n.htm</FONT>
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<H3>Virginia Official's Memo Saying Public Colleges Should Not Admit Illegal
Immigrants Draws Angry Reaction</H3><FONT size=-1><A
href="mailto:jonathan.margulies@chronicle.com">By JONATHAN MARGULIES</A></FONT>
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<P>A group representing Latinos and new immigrants is furious about a memo from
Virginia's attorney general that says illegal immigrants should be denied entry
to the state's public colleges. The directive also says that college officials
should notify federal authorities about any such students who are already known
to be on their campuses.
<P>During a news conference in Arlington, Va., last week, officials from the
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund lashed out at Virginia's
attorney general, Jerry W. Kilgore, who sent the memo to college officials last
September. In it, Mr. Kilgore cited the need to preserve spaces in public
colleges for students who are legal residents -- and are taxpayers.
<P>The memo, asserted Mr. Kilgore's spokesman, Tim Murtaugh, was intended only
to provide a legal interpretation to those colleges unsure of how to classify
their population of students who may be in the country illegally. And it does
not carry with it any binding force of law.
<P>"We received a variety of inquiries from public colleges and universities in
the state asking us whether illegal immigrants who are enrolled in Virginia's
schools should be charged in-state or out-of-state tuition," said Mr. Murtaugh.
"Rather than deal with each inquiry on its own, we just issued one broader
statement. ... Illegal immigrants should not be enrolled in public colleges and
universities at all."
<P>Representatives of the immigrants' rights group say Mr. Kilgore's
interpretation writes off thousands of immigrants who are currently attending
the nation's public schools and looking forward to going to college. The group
also says that the directive would most seriously penalize students who have
already established lives in the United States but lack formal immigration
status -- rather than those looking to take advantage of state-funded higher
education -- and that it is not justified by any current state or federal law.
<P>"We believe that that recommendation is ... just bad policy and it can result
in a process that can lead to serious human and legal rights violations," said
Tisha Tallman, regional counsel for the immigrants' rights group. "It also won't
be in the colleges' best interests to preclude the best and the brightest from
attending their schools."
<P>Ms. Tallman said her group first learned of the attorney general's message a
few weeks ago, when it was alerted by a school in Northern Virginia. She also
warned that forcing professors to report on students who may or may not lack the
proper documentation to study in the country would fundamentally undermine the
trust that is so essential between student and teacher. Mr. Kilgore's memo, she
said, suggested that faculty members take the lead in identifying such
individuals.
<P>Despite the criticism, Mr. Murtaugh says that the memo reflected the state's
obligation to protect the rights of taxpayers. Immigrants seeking higher
education in the United States, he added, would be well served by going through
formal channels in their quest for citizenship.
<P>"This country is made of generations of immigrants," Mr. Murtaugh said. "But
to afford someone else the opportunity to take advantage of the taxpayers'
support is a slap in the face to those who have entered this country and gone
through the proper processes."
<P>The question of how to categorize illegal immigrants on college campuses is
not unique to Virginia. Several states have adopted policies contrary to that
suggested by Mr. Kilgore. California, New York, and Texas have all allowed
undocumented aliens access to in-state tuition rates, a practice that the
Virginia memo explicitly condemns.
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