Written by: Jim Hansen
Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Imagine that you were not born in Idaho, but you did grow up in Idaho, went to school in Idaho, graduated from an Idaho high school, your family paid taxes in Idaho all those years and you get accepted to the University of Idaho, BSU, ISU or LCSC etc... Then, suddenly, you find out that unlike your high school classmates who have been accepted as in-state students, you have to pay out-of-state tuition.

Senate Bill 1427 – the Idaho Student Investment Act – was introduced to remedy this injustice. Oh, of course, there is one key fact that blinds some lawmakers so much that they break out in a cold sweat: because your parents were caught in the nightmare of this country’s broken immigration system, they don’t have proper documentation of their immigration status. Sen. John Goedde, Chair of the Senate Education Committee has refused to schedule a hearing on the bill. This forced the Idaho Community Action Network to collect hundreds of signatures to ask for a hearing. (No corporate lobbyist has to go to these lengths to get a hearing).

When the students came to the statehouse last Wednesday to deliver the petitions, Senate Republicans panicked and called for more security. Nathaniel Hoffman has a great article at PaleoMedia. They have lumped these hardworking students in their minds with terrorists & drug dealers. Obviously, the legislature is not going to solve massive quagmire of our country’s trade deals, broken promises, economic dislocation and a morass of an immigration system. So, instead, they are blaming model students who have so much to offer our state.

Trackback Print

Location: Blogs Jim Hansen