Panel Kills Bill to Bar State Colleges to Illegal Immigrants

A key Assembly committee on Tuesday killed an Orange County lawmaker’s bill that would have barred illegal immigrants from attending California’s universities and colleges.

The Assembly Higher Education Committee defeated the measure by Assemblyman Mickey Conroy (R-Orange) on a 5-2 vote after college officials argued that it would deter them from carrying out their educational mission.

“Philosophically, we continue to believe that decisions about admission should be based on educational considerations,” said Stephen A. Arditti, the University of California’s government relations director.

Conroy, however, said that state lawmakers and educators are out of step with public opinion.

“They have a philosophical bent that we ought to educate everyone in the world, whether they’re here legally or not,” Conroy said after the hearing. “I don’t think the taxpayers of California should subsidize illegal aliens and their education, especially when we’re having to deny slots at our universities to legal residents.”

College officials argued that winnowing out illegal immigrants is administratively difficult and defies the traditional standard for selecting students--academic excellence.

In addition, they said taxpayers do not subsidize immigrants, who end up paying higher fees charged out-of-state students. Some educators also said the measure expressed bigotry.

Conroy said the bill was simply an effort to underline existing federal law requiring immigrants to enter the country legally.

“This is not Republican versus Democrat, liberal versus conservative,” he said. “This is an issue of upholding our constitutional responsibility.”