Attorney General in Arkansas says No In State Tuition for Immigrants

AG Mike Beebe (D) issued an opinion 3/10 saying that a bill to make illegal aliens eligible for in-state college tuition prices and state-funded scholarships is "legally suspect." The opinion states that the bill may violate a federal law that prohibits illegal aliens from receiving in-state benefits for higher ed unless the same benefits are offered for citizens who live outside the state. The bill passed the state House and is part of Gov. Mike Huckabee's (R) legislative package. To be eligible, the illegal aliens would have to have graduated from an AR high school or earned a GED after spending 3 years in AR schools. The bill was introduced by state Rep. Joyce Elliot (D). Huckabee said he was confident the bill was legal. State Sen. Jim Holt (R) requested the opinion. He introduced competing legislation (see 3/9 Hotline) and said he's been called a bigot and racist for sponsoring it. Holt, in response to Beebe's opinion 3/10: "I wonder if the editorial writers and the governor would say that the U.S. representatives who passed those laws are all unchristian, bigots and race-bating, anti-life and un-American for putting those federal laws in place" (Kellams, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 3/11). The Hotline March 11, 2005