N.C. Community College System President Martin Lancaster said today he fully expects legislators to pass a law barring illegal immigrants from the state's colleges.
The legislation is likely to be introduced the first day of the legislative session next month, Lancaster said in a meeting with editors at The News & Observer.
Lancaster, who last year issued a passionate defense of allowing illegal immigrants to enroll at community colleges, said a new law would roll back the system's progress in educating immigrants to contribute to North Carolina's economy.
And, he added, if the legislation prohibits illegal immigrants from taking non-credit courses such as English as a second language, it would be "perverse."
More after the jump.
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"If North Carolina wants to be a knowledge-based economy, then everyone in the state has got to get the maximum amount of knowledge they can get," said Lancaster, who will retire at the end of the month. "It doesn't matter about their legal status."
Lancaster was bombarded with criticism last year after the system's attorney sent a memo to the state's 58 community colleges, telling them they could not keep out illegal immigrants. In December, the system asked the office of Attorney General Roy Cooper for a legal opinion on the issue. Lancaster said no opinion has been sent.
While Congress has not acted on the issue, Lancaster said, there should be a way for illegal immigrants to find a pathway to legitimacy. He does not favor amnesty, he said, but why not require immigrants to get a college education on the way to citizenship?
"Earn the right to legal status by earning a degree from a community college," he suggested. "Then we'll have a valuable asset."
Comments
Re: Illegal immigrants, illegal education?
April 11, 2008 - 8:53am — j1c2kpThe head honchos in NC don't wish to do anything substantial about illegal aliens partly because of the powerful agriculture lobby. By golly who would work at the slaughter plants and who would tend the gazillion hogs, turkeys and chickens in NC if the leaders actually got tough on illegal aliens and enforced the law? Maybe ICE should start going to the factory farms.
Re: Illegal immigrants, illegal education?
April 11, 2008 - 1:18am — lccatThe decision by DEMOCRAT Governor Mike Easley and DEMOCRAT Martin Lancaster to force North Carolina Community Colleges to accept ILLEGALS will not only cost the citizens of North Carolina but will cost most Democrats at the polls in 2008. It is difficult for me to believe that the Governor is a member of the same Democrat Party as Rep. Heath Shuler’s, the author of the Pro American Citizen "SAVE" Act! It is my understanding that Democrats at the state level have made this decision, have blocked almost all enforcement legislation in the General Assembly, issued hundreds of thousands of licenses to ILLEGALS, and have pushed for other benefits for ILLEGALS and their supporting groups.
Re: Illegal immigrants, illegal education?
April 11, 2008 - 12:51am — lccatIn the meantime as the ILLEGALS receive "their" education "our" FAMILIES are at the mercy of ILLEGALS and their Anchor Babies being murdered, raped, infected with disease, or robbed. But NOT to worry the Chamber of Commerce will get their "cheap labor" increasing "their privatized" PROFITS, thanks to Bush and the Congressional Leadership and now Martin Lancaster!!
Re: Illegal immigrants, illegal education?
April 11, 2008 - 12:43am — lccatThe Federal Government refuses to secure our National Borders and enforce our Immigration Laws leaving the States to PROTECT their Citizens! First Oklahoma and Arizona and now several other states have implemented bills that enforce immigration laws resulting in ILLEGALS leaving their states and returning to their home country or moving to another state to drain their resources. Now North Carolina via the state college system wants to attract and support more ILLEGALS who are running from the Enforcement states. The Chamber of Commerce always claims to follow Immigration Laws but continuously become confused about the interpretation of the law.
Re: Illegal immigrants, illegal education?
April 10, 2008 - 7:01pm — twoshadesofblueIllegal immigration is a federal problem. It doesn't do North Carolina any good to have uneducated people living in the state, many of whom are CHILDREN who didn't come here by choice.
North Carolina should allow them to attend community colleges at an in-state rate if they can prove they've been in North Carolina high schools for four years or that they're the dependent of someone who has been paying NC income taxes for the last two years.
Re: Illegal immigrants, illegal education?
April 10, 2008 - 1:18pm — nicolecollinsIllegal immigrants can't hold legit jobs, but we should make room for them in our colleges and offer them aid when many legal citizens can't get in or pay for college. Just doesn't make sense. How about they do it leagally and get a student visa before coming to this country?
Re: Illegal immigrants, illegal education?
April 10, 2008 - 1:01pm — CarltonHGood for the state legislature if they do. Illegals have no business being in the country, much less this state. Here's to hoping our next governor gets the 287g authority and cracks down like Oklahoma and Arizona so we can get illegals out of the state and have them stop undermining working class people needing the jobs illegals take.