Issue: College Tuition Paid by Illegal...

Richard L. Knickerbocker

Attorney for groups favoring higher tuition

The question is: Who should we let into the system--people who go by the laws or people who cross our borders and violate our laws? (The universities) claim that they’ve got financial problems, but the financial problems are in large part their own making. They desire certain pet projects, like providing educational services to illegals and they hold on to these types of programs, while at the same time they’re kicking students out of school, denying classes, reducing funds for medical research--things which we need as citizens. This is just the beginning of a series of actions to save the taxpayers of California billions of dollars. We want to end state and federal subsidies for these (students attending) kindergarten to 12th grade. We want to look at free medical care at hospitals for illegals, and we also (are) seeking to address welfare benefits. We cannot provide a good society unless we manage that society. The beginning of management is to manage our borders, determine who should be citizens and who should not, and how we allocate our resources in the finite population.

Alfred Herrera

UCLA student affairs officer

There are a large number of students at the top of their class who could be eligible to (attend) any university in the nation, but because they live in California they will not be able to afford school. The irony is that we will educate them through their senior year, telling them that education is the way to a better life, then slap them in the face. People need to understand the human element here. This (ruling) clearly has a negative impact on what our society stands for: equal opportunity and the right to an education, the right to advancement. The whole purpose of establishing non-resident fees is because students . . . come here and take advantage of a place like UCLA, and then go back to their state or country and (use) the benefits of their education. Immigrant students come here not with the intent of going to school, because most of them are brought here as children. They come here to have a better opportunity than they had in the country they came from. If we don’t find a way to try to educate them, what we are doing is creating an underclass of people.

Raymundo Velazquez

Huntington Park High School senior

They shouldn’t discriminate against “illegal” people. If the Constitution of the United States says that all of the people have the same rights, why are there different rights for the people who don’t have the papers? Don’t forget about us. They (universities) should test all the students and see if they can go or if they can’t. (Students should) meet admissions standards instead of (the university) saying that if you have the money you can go, and if you don’t have the money, you can’t. It’s not fair--it’s not really fair. Admission should be based on your academic knowledge, not on your social status. High school is not enough to get a good job. If someone doesn’t go to college, I think that for the rest of his life he is going to have economic problems. Anyone that does not go to college, they might not be able to make it later, when they get older.