Private Funds Being Raised for Illegal Residents in Arizona

A Touchy Issue Touches Young Students’ Lives

In Arizona , current illegal residents do not qualify for in-state tuition at state colleges. The difference between the in and out-of-state tuition fees can make or break the higher education of many bright young students.

Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and philanthropist Paul Lindsey are the creators of this new scholarship fund. Lindsey makes a good point about the economics of the in/out-of-state tuition:

These are exactly the wrong people that we want to punish. These are the students who have graduated from local high schools; maybe they’ve been in the states almost their whole lives. Maybe they’re good students, and they want to continue with their education. Those are the people that we need here and we want here.

Read the Arizona Daily Star article for more detail on the first recipient (pictured). Also note that the proposed Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act could make these private donations unnecessary.

If you are Hispanic and living in the country illegally, look for these types of initiatives in your local immigrant-advocacy groups.