Kansas City Star: Let U.S. citizens eat cake

The Kansas City Star has an editorial (kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/news/opinion/9200559.htm) about FAIR's suit to prevent Kansas from making U.S. citizens pay greater college tuition than illegal aliens:

Despite the group's acronym, there's nothing "fair" about the attempt by [FAIR] to challenge a new Kansas law regarding college-age children of undocumented immigrants. Misguided and hurtful are more appropriate adjectives.

FAIR filed a lawsuit Monday in a Topeka federal court to block legislation that would allow immigrant students who meet certain guidelines to pay in-state tuition at Kansas colleges and universities... [The plaintiffs] argue that it is not right for them to have to pay out-of-state tuition while students in the country illegally pay less...

What the plaintiffs fail to acknowledge is that they had a choice in deciding to pay higher tuition. If they wanted to pay in-state tuition, they could have attended colleges and universities in their home states.

[The "immigrants" had no free will...] ...The immigrant students aren't replacing or jumping ahead of American-born students. There is plenty of room in Kansas' colleges and universities for those who wish to further their education.

These immigrant students have spent at least three years in Kansas schools. [Some were model students, the slow U.S. immigration system is really to blame... ends on hopeful note.

Those "certain guidelines" are that the students are "illegal immigrants," not "immigrants" as the editorial repeatedly states. The word "illegal" only appears once in the editorial ("... students in the country illegally pay less...") And, they even use "undocumented."

These (illegal) immigrant students are indeed replacing U.S. students. There is only so much money to go around, and the idea that money should be spent on an illegal alien before a U.S. citizen is a patently anti-American idea.

You can send a letter to the editor at: letters@kcstar.com

For more contacts, see kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/contact_us/contact_list/departments_np1 or kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/contact_us/contact_list/newspaper_staff_np1.

Their Editorial Page Editor is Miriam Pepper: mpepper@kcstar.com

There's background information about the suit in Suit challenges in-state tuition for illegal immigrants (link)

Knight-Ridder reports on the suit in Suit seeks to prevent tuition break for illegal immigrants in Kansas (link). While the report is somewhat fair, note how a) the second paragraph uses "immigrants" instead of the correct phrase "illegal immigrants." And, note how only one plaintiff is featured, yet comments from two people on the other side are featured, and the comment from one of the people on the other side comes first. And, the second comments is from Emira Palacios of NPA. That's the group that surrounded Karl Rove's house a few months ago, banging on his windows in support of the DREAM Act.

The author of the Knight-Ridder piece is: Steve Painter at (785) 296-3006 or spainter@wichitaeagle.com

His editor might be Sherry Chisenhall: schisenhall@wichitaeagle.com

Comments

Lonewacko:
Sorry about the repeating message. Just post it once, please. Response to "Let Them Eat Cake."

Hi Lonewacko:

I waited 18 years for my little girl to go to college. Whew! That was a long time. Now, she wants to go to Kansas University! Great! The only problem is that we live in Nebraska and we will have to pay out-of-state tuition. I accept that.

Back to the long wait: Why can't people who want to make America their home wait a few years in their own country, until they can come to America, with their families, legally? Why can't they wait? What is their hurry?

If the Governor of Kansas gets her way, my little girl from Nebraska AND the illegal immigrants' kids in Kansas, will both be paying in-state tuition this fall, because that's the law.

Hi Lonewacko:

I waited 18 years for my little girl to go to college. Whew! That was a long time. Now, she wants to go to Kansas University! Great! The only problem is that we live in Nebraska and we will have to pay out-of-state tuition. I accept that.

Back to the long wait: Why can't people who want to make America their home wait a few years in their own country, until they can come to America, with their families, legally? Why can't they wait? What is their hurry?

If the Governor of Kansas gets her way, my little girl from Nebraska AND the illegal immigrants' kids in Kansas, will both be paying in-state tuition this fall, because that's the law.

Hi Lonewacko:

I waited 18 years for my little girl to go to college. Whew! That was a long time. Now, she wants to go to Kansas University! Great! The only problem is that we live in Nebraska and we will have to pay out-of-state tuition. I accept that.

Back to the long wait: Why can't people who want to make America their home wait a few years in their own country, until they can come to America, with their families, legally? Why can't they wait? What is their hurry?

If the Governor of Kansas gets her way, my little girl from Nebraska AND the illegal immigrants' kids in Kansas, will both be paying in-state tuition this fall, because that's the law.

Hi Lonewacko:

I waited 18 years for my little girl to go to college. Whew! That was a long time. Now, she wants to go to Kansas University! Great! The only problem is that we live in Nebraska and we will have to pay out-of-state tuition. I accept that.

Back to the long wait: Why can't people who want to make America their home wait a few years in their own country, until they can come to America, with their families, legally? Why can't they wait? What is their hurry?

If the Governor of Kansas gets her way, my little girl from Nebraska AND the illegal immigrants' kids in Kansas, will both be paying in-state tuition this fall, because that's the law.