Becoming a United States Citizen Should Have Value

By Kelly McCarty

In-state tuition should not be awarded to illegal immigrants.

Imagine that. An 18-year-old from Las Vegas that pays federal income tax pays out-of-state tuition, but an 18-year-old from Mexico that crossed the border illegally pays the same tuition that my daughter would pay. That is ridiculous.

Cedillo is now attempting to pass a measure (SB 160) that allows illegal immigrants to be eligible for Cal-Grants. This is a form of financial aid for college students.

Illegal immigrants should not be able to get drivers licenses, but the argument that it potentially helps reduce the number of uninsured drivers on the road is at least plausible. Cedillo's financial aid proposal doesn't benefit the legal residents of California at all. In fact, it takes away opportunities for those that are here legally.

Last year, more than 100,000 eligible community college students were unable to get Cal-Grant Competitive Awards. State law already allows illegal aliens to get in-state tuition at our public colleges and universities. Now we are going to go even farther? I don't think so.

This would just not be an appropriate use of the tax dollars paid by hard working California families that are trying to send their own kids to college.

When I am serving in the Assembly next term, I will be leading my Republican colleagues to oppose this bill and making the case to Democrats that this is wrong for California families. I will speak out against these kinds of measures and go directly to the voters to overturn them if they are signed into law.

The incentives to enter our country legally are wearing thin. It is wrong to reward Illegal Immigrants with benefits that we do not even give to most US Citizens. It should have some value to be a United States citizen.