The argument that goes, "What is it about illegal that you don't understand?" is meant to be a show-stopper, and there's no mistaking the fact that people in this country without official permission are in violation of the law.

But the debate over illegal immigration cannot properly be reduced to such simplistic terms. That's why many leaders from President Bush on down have called for reform, to give illegal aliens a chance to pursue legal residency and the opportunities that come with it.

In North Carolina, the debate now has focused on the specific issue of higher education for those immigrants. An advisory opinion from the office of Attorney General Roy Cooper suggested that because of federal law, the state's public universities and community colleges should drop their policies of enrolling people who are not legal residents.

Yet federal law on the matter is far from clear-cut, so states largely have cobbled together their own guidelines giving young people the benefit of the doubt. Governor Easley cited the law's ambiguity when he properly, even courageously, told community colleges -- and by extension the University of North Carolina system -- that they should continue observing their progressive enrollment policies pending further guidance from the federal government.

On Friday, in fact, federal immigration officials indicated that North Carolina's approach was not out of bounds.

It should be clear that allowing motivated, capable young people to continue their education benefits both them and the public at large. Those young people already are entitled, reasonably, to attend public elementary and secondary schools. What's the point of denying them a chance to continue along the academic path? After all, most of them are here in the first place because they were brought by parents. Punishing them for a situation not of their making seems both unfair and counterproductive to society.

Federal law does seem to bar states from providing some public services to illegal immigrants, most of whom are Hispanic. But the out-of-state tuition paid by those immigrants in North Carolina more than covers the cost of the education. There hasn't been a flood of such students in any event: Just 27 attend the 16 university campuses and 340 are seeking degrees at the 59 community colleges.

That number might increase if the policies were upheld, but so what? As a practical matter, few of these people are likely to be sent back where they came from. Why not let them maximize their potential while continuing to work for immigration reform that would create a fair, orderly process for legalization?

Some would deny college admissions on grounds that an illegal resident can't legally work in the U.S. anyway, even with a diploma. But young people with the talent and desire to further their education ought to be able to do it. Actually, Americans should be more worried about the high dropout rate among immigrants, legal or illegal. Poor education breeds crime and reliance on public welfare programs, both of which end up costing the state.

Easley did well by pointing out that the law on higher education for illegal aliens is not cut and dried. North Carolina has every good reason to keep its policy consistent with that in other states and not withhold precious opportunities from these young people.