Georgia Senate approves barring undocumented immigrants from colleges

United States, 6th March: A bill barring undocumented immigrants from seeking admission in Georgia public colleges, technical schools and universities has been given approval by Georgia Senate.

Senate Bill 458 gets approval— Proponents of Bill 458 say argued that it is mandatory keep state-funded education preserved for legal residents and citizens of Alabama. Meanwhile, opponents say the bill’s approval will rob motivated students the chance to seek further education.

Undocumented immigrants are already banned from attending any Georgia school that has denied students with academic qualification in the previous two years.

The bill won 34 votes amidst alleged disinterest by Governor Nathan Deal and House leadership to deal with it. The bill aims to keep higher education as a public benefit while prohibiting undocumented immigrants from Georgia’s public colleges.

Changed admission rules in Georgia colleges--According to the revised version of Senate Bill 458 sponsored by Senator Barry Loudermilk, public postsecondary education is not available to undocumented immigrants. Hence, the new law will compel changes in the admission rules of University System of Georgia.

New Georgia immigration rules will make it compulsory for all public universities and colleges of Georgia to verify applicants’ immigration status through a federal database. And those unable to prove their legal immigration status will not be provided admission in the state colleges, technical schools and universities.

As per the current rules, undocumented immigrants are given admission in Georgia colleges but majority are paying out-of-state tuition fee.

Bill would destroy dreams of young undocumented immigrants—The bill is nothing but a criminal step aimed to destroy the future of many youngsters for no fault of theirs, argues Democratic state Republican Pedro Marin. These young people were brought to the US by their parents when they were children.

The new measure is a discrimination against thousands of young students in Georgia universities, says a Mexico-born student, Yiovani Diaz. This law is unfair to young immigrants who consider Georgia as their native place. It is not just affecting the students but also the future of Georgia as well, Diaz adds.

Diaz is enrolled at Freedom University, an effort by University of Georgia’s professors for offering an educational opportunity to undocumented immigrant students in this state.