Maryland bill to let illegal immigrants pay in-state tuition fails

Published: 2007-04-16

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- A bill that would have allowed illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates died in a Maryland Senate committee April 9, the final day of the Maryland General Assembly's 2007 session. Though the bill passed in the House of Delegates in March, Senate Republicans threatened a filibuster if it actually made it to the floor of their chamber. Democratic Gov. Martin J. O'Malley had vowed to sign the bill if it reached his desk. The Maryland Catholic Conference lobbied in favor of the bill, asserting it would give Maryland immigrants who have lived in the state since they were children access to a college education. "In many cases the children who would benefit from this legislation came to our country not of their own choice, but of their parents' (choice)," said Julie Varner, associate director of social concerns for the Maryland Catholic Conference. "They deserve the same opportunity to succeed, using their own talents and hard work, as their fellow Maryland classmates."

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