Why enable illegal activity?

Richard Stevens is a Republican state senator from Cary. He opposes allowing illegal immigrants admission to community colleges and universities. He responded to several of the arguments that proponents make for giving illegal immigrants access to higher education.

IN GENERAL:

"The key word in all of this discussion and debate, which folks seem to be forgetting, is 'illegal.' It is against the law for them to be in our country. Americans don't get free tuition when we travel in other countries. Why should we build a reward system that encourages illegal activity? We need to fix our immigration policy. Let's bring people here legally, and then we'll address all the problems. We've been a generous nation for centuries, but we've done it legally. ... We're trying to fix things in a piecemeal way at the state level, and that's not going to work."

ON COMPETITION:

"We have a waiting list of North Carolinians, taxpayers, who would like to go to our community colleges, and they can't. We've got North Carolinians who want to send their children to UNC-Chapel Hill, and they get denied. Every seat that is given to an illegal immigrant is taking the seat from a North Carolinian who is a taxpayer, and that is wrong."

"Competition is fine, and immigration is fine. Our country was built on immigration. The key difference here is that we're talking about people in this country illegally."

ON THE BENEFITS OF EDUCATION:

"How are they going to get a job? It's illegal to get a job if they don't have legal status. Go look at our university system. There's a very elaborate process to verify citizenship to become an employee. We're training people for what? Jobs they can't get. We're building false hope."

ON THE ARGUMENT THAT CHILDREN WHO COME ILLEGALLY WITH THEIR PARENTS SHOULDN'T BE PUNISHED:

"By the time they go to the university, they're adults. They're still illegal, and now they're an adult illegal." Stevens said they should return to their home countries.

ON THE ASSERTION THAT OUT-OF-STATE TUITION MORE THAN COVERS THE COST OF A STUDENT'S EDUCATION:

"County taxpayers pay for the buildings. Tuition doesn't cover the cost of those buildings. Look at the total cost of the education, not just the instructional cost. Look at the buildings, the overhead costs of the programs, the operating costs. Even out-of-state people are subsidized"

ON THE UNC SYSTEM'S STUDY:

"I can't imagine, in my wildest imagination, the General Assembly of this state passing a bill to give in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. So if you're going to do a study and you know the outcome, you're wasting your time, in my opinion."

ON PUBLIC REACTION:

"Young people right now are applying to colleges in this state. Here's a parent who has been paying taxes in this state for years, and the spot their child would like to take is going to be taken by someone who's here illegally. And then we're suggesting subsidizing that? It angers people."