Does immigration law unfairly affect state students?

STILLWATER — Oklahoma's immigration law unfairly punishes some of the state's greatest assets: young people with the ability and desire to gain a college education, a University of Houston law professor said Tuesday.

The law that went into effect Nov. 1 makes it harder for illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state college tuition and bars them from state scholarships.

Michael Olivas said that is unfair because it targets the children of parents who brought them here illegally. Some teens do not know they are illegal until they are asked for proof of residency when they apply to college.

"You can't simply punish the kids in hopes that their parents will go home,” Olivas said during his Kamm Lecture address at Oklahoma State University. "These children are here simply because their parents brought them here.”

The state Regents for Higher Education changed some policies in October to bring them into compliance with the new law.

Undocumented students who have lived in Oklahoma for at least two years and have graduated from high school remain eligible for in-state tuition if they have applied with the federal government to legalize their status or pledge to do so as soon as they are eligible.

But illegal immigrants no longer qualify for state scholarships such as Oklahoma's Promise and the Oklahoma Tuition Assistance Grant, unless they had already applied and were covered under a grandfather clause.

In the 2006-07 school year, 244 undocumented students attended Oklahoma colleges, mostly at Oklahoma City Community College and Tulsa Community College. While they cost the state $112,000 in tuition waivers and state aid, they contributed $238,785 in tuition and fees.

Olivas said the stricter standards to college access are "mean-spirited,” because giving illegal immigrants in-state tuition does not take away that right for other Oklahomans.

But one international student at the lecture complained he has to pay out-of-state tuition although he's been in the United States legally for several years.

Brenda Morales, OSU's Hispanic student coordinator, said students are unclear about the new rules. Morales said many don't know they can still go to college by paying out-of-state tuition, but that is probably too expensive for most families.