Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy
S. 1545, Development, Relief, And Education For Alien Minors Act Of
2003
Executive Business Meeting
October 23, 2003
As a strong supporter and cosponsor of S. 1545,
the Hatch/Durbin Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors
Act of 2003, I am very pleased that the Committee has reported this
bill today. I would have preferred the original bill to the version
we have approved today, but no one should doubt that the amended
bill will cause a major improvement in the lives of many young
people in America. Senators Durbin and Hatch deserve enormous
credit for shepherding this bill through the committee, and I
applaud them for their fine work.
In the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and
Immigrant Responsibility Act, Congress dictated to the States that
they could not offer post-secondary educational benefits to
unauthorized alien students, unless the States offered the same
benefits to all U.S. citizens. That provision, section 505 of the
Act, attempted to prevent States from offering in-state tuition to
undocumented alien residents. This substitute amendment will repeal
that section and free the States to set their own higher education
policy.
In addition to allowing States to decide
whether to provide in-state tuition for undocumented aliens, this
bill will allow an alien child to become a legal permanent resident
if he or she: (a) entered the United States before his or her 16th
birthday and has been in the country for at least five years; (b) is
a person of good moral character; and (c) is not inadmissible on
criminal, security, or certain other specified grounds; (d) has been
admitted to an institution of higher education or received a high
school or equivalent degree; and (e) has never been ordered removed
from the country from the age of 16. This important provision will
free students from constantly fearing deportation, and allow them to
work so they can afford to pay for college.
I have heard Senators Durbin and Hatch speak
with passion – both at last week’s markup and in previous years –
about the fine high school students they have known who have been
harmed by the 1996 law. Even before that law, undocumented alien
students were barred from receiving Federal financial aid, and most
States barred them from receiving State aid. The bar to in-state
tuition was the final nail in the coffin for the hopes of many alien
children who came to the United States as young children.
Some have said that these children should not
benefit from the American educational system because they are here
illegally. I disagree. First, these children did not make the
choice to enter the United States illegally
B they were
brought here and do not deserve to be punished for that. Second,
denying these children a college education is shortsighted. Only a
small fraction of people who are here illegally are deported
B most of
the rest continue to work and live here. It can only benefit
American society and our economy to have this substantial population
receive an education, and to provide these children with an avenue
to remain here. Finally, as I pointed out last week, the Supreme
Court has ruled that illegal aliens are entitled to elementary and
secondary public education
B it is
perverse to erect a roadblock to higher education once we have
devoted so many resources to providing the educational basics.
I urge the Senate to pass this bill as promptly
as possible.
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