Take Action in Texas!
This year, anti-immigrant legislators are hoping to introduce legislation that will criminalize and hurt the immigrant community. Texas legislators are seeking to pass HB464, a repeal of in-state tuition for undocumented students.
This is an attack on our youth. Tell your legislator that you are against denying undocumented students the opportunity to go to college.
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The Petition
To the members of the Texas State Affairs Committee:
We, the undersigned, oppose all anti-immigrant and anti-education legislation such as HB464 that criminalize our families, friends, and the immigrant community and also alienate our immigrant students.
Though the opposition pushes grossly misinformed rhetoric by claiming that granting undocumented students in-state tuition burdens the economy, the figures from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board show that $9.5 million is paid out of pocket by the same students for higher education. In addition, a study directed by the Perryman Group in 2007 shows that for every dollar invested in higher education a profit of $8.08 is yielded.
Moreover, these legislations will hurt Texas since they force students to pick between two drastic alternatives: go uneducated or search for education elsewhere. The former denies the student an opportunity to develop and become a productive member of society whereas the latter potentially creates a foreign competitor to the U.S. market.
It is also in the best interest of both Texas and the nation to have an educated population. Youth across the state face an erroneous idea that because of their immigration status, they will not be able to pursue higher education. As a result, this misinformation causes the majority of undocumented youth to drop out of school, incurring a detrimental effect on both Texas and the nation. HB 1403 was passed with the intent of preventing youth from dropping out of high schools by encouraging them to strive for a better future.
Therefore, we urge Texas legislators to step away from this misguided legislatoin that hurts immigrant students and the larger immigrant community. Instead, we must focus on legislation that will strengthen our country by allowing all students to continue with their education, regardless of their immigration status. We need solutions that will not bring fear into the lives of immigrants and their families.
We, the undersigned, demand better from our Texas legislators.