<p>"The Maryland House of Delegates passed a bill to allow in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants in the state's community colleges.</p>
<p>After those students graduate community college, they would qualify for in-state tuition at the state's four-year higher education institutions as well.</p>
<p>The bill passed the house 74-66 on Friday evening..."</p>
<p>Wait…Forgive my stupidity on this one…</p>
<p>so, illegal immigrants get in-state tuition (without proof of residency), but legal out of state US citizens pay OOS tuition? am I missing something here? </p>
<p>I guess I just don’t get this…is this assuming that these “illegal immigrants” are MD residents??</p>
<p>sorry but that just bugs me… if the reason people have to pay oos tuition if they come from other states is because they dont pay taxes within the state…then an illegal should be in the same boat. And if here illegally how are they going to work after graduation?
i really think the priority should be for kids here legally not illegally!</p>
<p>ETA crossposted with rodney</p>
<p>the article says that they have to show that their parents paid taxes but if you are illegal you can’t pay income taxes because you won’t have a SSN… am I missing something?</p>
<p>if an illegal immigrant lives in a state they do pay taxes -from sales tax and also property tax (it’s included in most rents - the landlord doesn’t eat that cost.)</p>
<p>No. Not missing something. Insanity. Nothing quite like getting rewarded for breaking the law.</p>
<p>Yes, you are. Illegal immigrants have been able to file taxes since 1996 when the IRS started issuing special tax numbers for people living and working illegally in this country. Experts say the 8 million to 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States contribute untold billions each year in payroll taxes. [This was from a 2004 article…numbers may have gone up since then I’m sure.]</p>
<p>agree emilybee, but that is not the same or in the same amounts as state taxes.</p>
<p>i feel bad for the kids that may not get a good education if their parents are illegals, but…if the kid is illegal and can present something showing some sort of taxes have been paid, then it basically turning a blind eye to a now KNOWN immigration violation. the school knows that you have a family of illegals and nothing will be done, except discount the child’s tuition??</p>
<p>just saw ellemnope post… say what??? omg that is just stupid…lets hassle everyone, raise a stink about immigration, protests etc in arizona, border patrols etc…and now you say, well ok if you get past that, you can get a number to pay taxes. Geez why did my H and I bother to do immigration the correct and legal way…took 4 years, health exam, lawyers, criminal checks.</p>
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<p>Actually, an illegal immigrant can have an SSN. Some examples:</p>
<p>a. Someone who worked in the US legally on a work visa has an SSN, and still has it even if his/her work visa is no longer valid and s/he has no other means of legally being in the US.</p>
<p>b. Someone may have been assigned an SSN [as</a> a dependent of someone paying US income tax](<a href=“http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch01.html#en_US_2010_publink1000170567]as”>http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch01.html#en_US_2010_publink1000170567), even if s/he never had any means of legally being in the US.</p>
<p>Almost hate to see yet another thread on this topic because invariably more heat than light will come from it. That being said, bestowing this benefit to illegal immigrants gives me pause, but the argument that they do pay taxes in their state of residence appeals to my sense of fairness. Ultimately however, creation of this benefit by individual states is simply once again allowing the real culprit in this matter, CONGRESS, to kick the can down the road.</p>
<p>back to my original (I guess not so stupid anymore) questions…</p>
<p>1)if they do not pay MD state taxes, and neither do OOS students, what gives??? </p>
<p>2) do they have to prove residency in the state of MD?..or is this for ANY illegal immigrants that happen to want to attend school in the lovely state of MD?</p>
<p>Does this directly say illegal or just non-resident/citizens? Because I’m in VA (where the opposite ruling to the MD one has been established) and I’m not a resident or a citizen, but I AM here legally (via TPS) and my parents have been paying taxes annually, on taxes, etc. I agree with the ruling, assuming the kids live in-state and pay taxes. My sister was considered out-of-state (international, even) when completing her associate’s degree before moving on to GMU and the costs were almost unbearable.</p>
<p>^^that is mypoint; if they live in-state and pay taxes then it makes perfect sense!!! </p>
<p>if not, then not so much…</p>
<p>The lawyers and expert observers in the room may correct anything I leave out, but my understanding of this and similar legislation in other states is that the applicant must prove that he/she attended high school in the state of residency from at least the junior [11th grade] year onward.</p>
<p>And for argument’s sake, the taxes in question are state and local taxes. That’s why OOS applicants generally are not permitted to enjoy “in-state” tuition rates.</p>
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<p>It is not just that. Paying taxes is irrelevant. Anyone whoever sets foot in the state of MD pays taxes to that state if they buy anything, including gas or hotel room tax. </p>
<p>If an illegal immigrant is paying income taxes, then presumably they are breaking the law. It is illegal to work in the US if you are here illegally, so if you have a job that requires payroll withholding or paying income taxes, then either you have committed fraud, because an employer may not hire you if you cannot prove that you have a legal right to work here, or you have conspired to commit fraud because your employer didn’t ask or require the proper documentation.</p>
<p>This may be new news for Maryland, but providing higher ed paths for undocumented young people has been on states’ agendas for a while. “Since 2001, 10 states have enacted laws to allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at public universities. They are California, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Washington.”</p>
<p>Here’s a link to the Washington Post article from which I excerpted the above quote. It also has a few more details on the Maryland legislation. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/md-house-passes-bill-to-allow-in-state-tuition-for-illegal-immigrants-who-meet-conditions/2011/04/08/AFvtdx3C_story.html[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/md-house-passes-bill-to-allow-in-state-tuition-for-illegal-immigrants-who-meet-conditions/2011/04/08/AFvtdx3C_story.html</a></p>
<p>I will go to bed tonight proud that my state legislators have taken this step which can lead to better futures for so many of Happykid’s classmates and their peers throughout our state. Today Maryland. Perhaps tomorrow the Federal “Dream Act”, and a restored will to create real immigration reform.</p>
<p>Well said happymom!</p>
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It’s not so straightforward. Out here there are lots of illegals who live 3 or 4 or so families in a house meant for one family. This means they’re ‘not’ all paying the property taxes one might think yet are a tax and services drain by still using the public school system (that’s largely supported by property taxes) and straining other services like sewer and water which is based on expected ‘single’ family residences, in many cases are ‘not’ paying state or fed income tax when the type of work they do is paid in cash (not all but certainly some), strain the hospital systems, and strain a lot of other public services.</p>
<p>Next step - need based aid for illegals (or maybe it’s already included - I didn’t read the article).</p>
<p>Shout out for Maryland!</p>