No In-State Tuition For Illegal Immigrants

The Boston Globe calls them “undocumented immigrants;” I call them what that are, and that is “illegal aliens.” No matter what you call them, they still will not get in-state tuition in Massachusetts, now that House members voted 96-to-57 to defeat this most preposterous bill that had no business on Beacon Hill.

Massachusetts House members last night decisively defeated a controversial bill to extend in-state tuition rates at public colleges to undocumented immigrants, effectively killing the measure for this year.

The 96-to-57 tally surprised advocates of the bill, who believed they had enough votes to win approval in the House and at one point were predicting they may have enough support to override a certain veto from Governor Mitt Romney.

Despite some pathetic sob stories from House Democrats, common sense prevailed. The Republicans could not have done this alone; support from more than a handful of Democrats was required to defeat this bill.

Representative Marie Parente, a Milford Democrat, said immigrants who are here illegally should not be given advantages over residents who struggle as she did when she was a child.

Parente was a foster child and attended college later in life because she could not afford to go right out of high school.

“You’re going to educate people to take our own technical jobs, the ones our students need?” Parente said.

One Republican was originally for the bill, but came to his senses.

Representative George N. Peterson Jr., a Grafton Republican who originally supported the bill based on personal appeals from undocumented students, opposed it yesterday, saying that even if students were permitted to attend college here at in-state rates, they could not legally obtain jobs here.

More than just the defeat of a ridiculous bill, today represents yet another setback to Attorney General Reilly’s campaign for Governor. This is a bill that Reilly personally lobbied for; and its defeat shows that Reilly would be ineffective in exercising influence on proposed legislation–something a Democrat in Massachusetts should be embarrassed for. Heck, if Mitt Romney can use his influence and prestige to save Melanie’s Law, you would think that Reilly could simply rally his fellow Democrats to pass a law that is directly in line with their party platform.

The will of the people prevailed today, something not often occurring in this fair state. Today is great day for the Commonwealth.

Aaron Margolis is a life long resident of the Bay State, and works at an architectural firm north of Boston. Aaron has a Master of Architecture Degree from Boston Architectural College and is currently in the process of becoming of a Registered Architect.