"TRENTON - A bill to allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at state colleges and universities cleared committees in both houses of the Legislature yesterday after several hours of impassioned debate.
'It is a matter of simple fairness that students who have grown up in New Jersey, graduated from high school in New Jersey, and are the future of New Jersey, be given the simple dignity of being able to go to college here as well,' said Assemblywoman Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D., Camden), a sponsor.
Eleven states allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition, which in New Jersey can be half the cost of out-of-state rates. Advocates in New Jersey have been working to advance legislation on the issue since at least 2002.
The bill would allow illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition if they attended a New Jersey high school for at least three years, graduated or received the equivalent of a high school diploma from a New Jersey high school, and submitted an affidavit to the college or university stating they had applied to legalize their immigration status.
The bill was released by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, voting 7-4, and the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee by a vote of 8-6 later yesterday."
'It is a matter of simple fairness that students who have grown up in New Jersey, graduated from high school in New Jersey, and are the future of New Jersey, be given the simple dignity of being able to go to college here as well,' said Assemblywoman Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D., Camden), a sponsor.
Eleven states allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition, which in New Jersey can be half the cost of out-of-state rates. Advocates in New Jersey have been working to advance legislation on the issue since at least 2002.
The bill would allow illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition if they attended a New Jersey high school for at least three years, graduated or received the equivalent of a high school diploma from a New Jersey high school, and submitted an affidavit to the college or university stating they had applied to legalize their immigration status.
The bill was released by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, voting 7-4, and the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee by a vote of 8-6 later yesterday."