The debate over which rights and luxuries, if any, should be afforded to illegal immigrants has reached a new level of bizarreness as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is now suing three public colleges in Missouri for hiking tuition prices on undocumented aliens.

The lawsuits were filed on behalf of three students against the University of Missouri (UMSL), St. Louis Community College (SLCC) and the Metropolitan Community College after the state passed HB 3 over the summer, which states that “no funds shall be expended at public institutions of higher education that offer a tuition rate to any student with an unlawful immigration status in the United States that is less than the tuition rate charged to international students,” reports Campus Reform.

In other words, illegal immigrants wishing to attend college in Missouri should pay tuition rates similar to students attending from out-of-state or from abroad.

New Missouri tuition bill: Foreigners should be treated like FOREIGNERS!

Sounds completely legitimate and fair, right? Why should individuals who are in the country unlawfully get breaks on college tuition? They shouldn’t, but they do in 20 states.

The new rule passed in HB 3 says public colleges and universities must charge undocumented aliens the highest rate of tuition possible, and DACA students are not exempt.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a federal program that grants immunity to children who were brought into the U.S. before the age of 16, allowing them to work and attend school in the country, but does not bestow citizenship.

Prior to the rule change, DACA students were eligible to receive scholarships, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“This is to prevent the department from giving scholarships or a better rate of tuition to undocumented students,” said Republican state Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick, who spearheaded the changes.

Ironically, opponents are calling the rule change unfair and an act of “discrimination.”

“What this means is that we don’t value or support individuals who made the mistake of being born somewhere else,” said Faith Sandler, executive director of the nonprofit Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis.

She says the rule essentially “snuffs out the potential of people who could be contributing members of society.”

American citizens deserve rights too, don’t they?

But what about American citizens? Don’t they deserve the chance to ‘contribute to society’ too?
Why should they be treated equally to foreigners who have not paid into the system, or at least not for as long as residents have, and be forced to compete with them educationally and professionally?

What makes ACLU’s lawsuit even more frivilous is that the rule change only affects seven currently enrolled students at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), who can expect their tuition to hike from $9,500 to $25,000.

Yes, it costs a lot more money to attend school out-of-state, even more so internationally – welcome to America’s overinflated college tuition system. But U.S. citizens have to deal with it, so undocumented aliens should too!

But they won’t, at least probably not at UMSL or SLCC because the schools are currently raising money in private donations to help pay the tuition increase for illegal immigrants.

SLCC has “already has earmarked close to a quarter of a million dollars in aid for DACA students facing financial hardship and is working on raising additional funds,” reports Campus Reform.

Now, does that seem fair?

No one is raising money for American citizens who wish to attend college out-of-state or abroad. If Americans wish to do so they must have wealthy parents, borrow hefty loans from the government or work their tail off to earn extensive scholarships, which they will have to compete with for foreigners in 20 states.

Additional sources:

http://campusreform.org/?ID=6896

https://legiscan.com/MO/text/HB3/id/1213659

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/missouri-bans-college-aid-to-undocumented-students/article_8376fb03-168b-58cd-87fc-aa9b24083004.html

http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-daca