Tution Breaks for Illegal Aliens Up for Vote Again

A balanced and well-written Laura Kellams article outlines the issues in the latest effort to give illegal aliens "in-state" tuition rates if they have spent at least three years at an Arkansas school.

Senator Hank Wilkins is the sponosr of the bill, SB 981. I am not going to rehash the article, it is worth a read if you want to click on the link. I'd like to focus on the Senator's attempt to play the race card on this one. The article states: "Wilkins said he knows he’s in for a fight, mostly because his memories are fresh from the previous regular session. He is black, as was the House sponsor then, and he said they both received death threats laced with racial slurs.

“That does not deter me from doing what I believe is right,” Wilkins said. “This is the right thing to do. I’m never going to be deterred by threats from ignorant people.”

I would hope that he would be deterred by facts from educated people. Betsy Hagan of the Eagle forum had it right. There is no deterrence here at all, in fact the bill provides an inducement to break the law. Come here and successfully evaded the law for three years, and you will be rewarded by getting college tuition at subsidized rates. Remember, Hagan and other Arkansas critics of this bill are not for denying illegal aliens access to a state university, just access to your pockets to help pay for it.

I was a little dissapointed that Wilkins played the race card on this one instead of defending the policy on whatever merits it may have. Look at who loses most when illegals flood in. The people whose jobs and wages have been most threatened by our new imported underclass are those of our residing underclass, and they are disproportionately black. The policy of encouraging more illegal aliens to come to our state disproportionately harms the economic opportunities of Wilkin's own race. This is not a racial issue. Illegal immigrants should not get tuition breaks whether they hail from Ireland or Swaziland.

Of course that view is just one poor man's opinion. Others with much more money- because they are highly paid University Presidents thanks to our tax dollars, take the opposite view. They are ALREADY giving illegal aliens the tuition breaks, despite the fact that the legislature specifically voted down a bill to do so. At least Senator Wilkins has enough respect for the system to run a bill making the practice legal. Some University Presidents think that "they don't need no stinking law". They are just acting as kingdoms unto themselves.

We live in a strange world. In words, I sometimes heap scorn on parts of the legislature, while the University Presidents heap respectful words. In practice, the actions of the University Presidents show that they hold the legislature in contempt, while in practice I have great respect for them and what they do. Strange world, and BAD BILL.