Oregon Senate Approves Immigrant Tuition Bill

NECN reported that: The Oregon Senate voted Tuesday to allow some illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at Oregon public universities. The Senate's 18-11 vote sends the measure to the House, where two Republicans and six Democrats have already signed onto it. Supporters cheered the vote, saying the Senate's approval gets them one step closer to a long-sought goal. "It's within reach," said Orlando Lopez, a 22-year-old political science student at Western Oregon University who watched the vote from the Senate gallery. He said he got involved with the issue after seeing high school friends who couldn't afford tuition because they were illegal immigrants. Proponents of the legislation say students shouldn't be punished because their parents brought them to the United States illegally. And, the bill's backers say, the state should help students be productive residents after investing in years of public education. "Have these children broken the law when many were carried into this country in the arms of their mother?" asked Sen. Frank Morse, R-Albany, a sponsor of the measure. But opponents say illegal activity should never be excused, and the state should not give illegal immigrants a benefit that isn't available to U.S. citizens who live in other states.