Thanks for Prohibiting Sanctuary Colleges in Georgia
Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, May 5, 2017 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler
What a relief it was when H.B. 37 passed this session. It’s a ray of hope for law-abiding citizens who believe that national boundaries should be respected and laws should be enforced against violators. Today, I applaud Representative Earl Ehrhart, who introduced H.B. 37, and Representatives England, Morris, Williams and Petrea who co-signed it. Also, I want to thank the 112 House members and 37 senators that voted for it. Thanks to them, the law against illegal entry into the United States has more teeth in it in Georgia.
While that doesn’t mean illegal aliens will be sent back home, Representative Ehrhart’s bill prohibits sanctuary policies in private colleges and universities and punishes them for adopting a regulation, rule, policy, or practice that gives safe space for students who are here illegally. Since crossing the border is illegal, individuals, agencies and organizations are encouraging illegal behavior if they protect illegals from federal and state immigration laws.
Because a Georgia county, reportedly, harbors illegal aliens, Georgia is listed among states that provide sanctuary, despite a 2016 state law that made it illegal for publicly-funded programs and local governments to provide sanctuary. The 2016 law applies to state colleges and universities because they are publicly funded by taxes, but it does not apply to private institutions. So, H.B. 37 corrected that by prohibiting sanctuary policies in private colleges and universities, as well.H.B. 37 is necessary because activists are demanding sanctuary for illegal aliens in schools of higher education in other states. For example, a tax-payer funded university in Oregon has adopted a sanctuary policy, and so have Columbia University and Wesleyan University that get private funds, federal Pell grants and federally-subsidized student tuition loans. Institutions that enroll illegal alien students are doing so in total disregard for immigration laws. Also, when schools award in-state tuition to illegal aliens but deny in-state tuition for students who are out-of-state U.S. citizens, they give preferential treatment to illegal aliens and discriminate against students who are legal residents.
If H.B. 37 had not passed, officials of Georgia’s private higher education institutions could violate federal and state immigration law without penalty. But H.B. 37 DID pass and private higher education institutions that violate the sanctuary law will lose state funding, as well as state-administered federal funding, until they comply. A loss of funding might cause them to understand the difference between legal and illegal. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.
What a relief it was when H.B. 37 passed this session. It’s a ray of hope for law-abiding citizens who believe that national boundaries should be respected and laws should be enforced against violators. Today, I applaud Representative Earl Ehrhart, who introduced H.B. 37, and Representatives England, Morris, Williams and Petrea who co-signed it. Also, I want to thank the 112 House members and 37 senators that voted for it. Thanks to them, the law against illegal entry into the United States has more teeth in it in Georgia.
While that doesn’t mean illegal aliens will be sent back home, Representative Ehrhart’s bill prohibits sanctuary policies in private colleges and universities and punishes them for adopting a regulation, rule, policy, or practice that gives safe space for students who are here illegally. Since crossing the border is illegal, individuals, agencies and organizations are encouraging illegal behavior if they protect illegals from federal and state immigration laws.
Because a Georgia county, reportedly, harbors illegal aliens, Georgia is listed among states that provide sanctuary, despite a 2016 state law that made it illegal for publicly-funded programs and local governments to provide sanctuary. The 2016 law applies to state colleges and universities because they are publicly funded by taxes, but it does not apply to private institutions. So, H.B. 37 corrected that by prohibiting sanctuary policies in private colleges and universities, as well.
H.B. 37 is necessary because activists are demanding sanctuary for illegal aliens in schools of higher education in other states. For example, a tax-payer funded university in Oregon has adopted a sanctuary policy, and so have Columbia University and Wesleyan University that get private funds, federal Pell grants and federally-subsidized student tuition loans. Institutions that enroll illegal alien students are doing so in total disregard for immigration laws. Also, when schools award in-state tuition to illegal aliens but deny in-state tuition for students who are out-of-state U.S. citizens, they give preferential treatment to illegal aliens and discriminate against students who are legal residents.
If H.B. 37 had not passed, officials of Georgia’s private higher education institutions could violate federal and state immigration law without penalty. But H.B. 37 DID pass and private higher education institutions that violate the sanctuary law will lose state funding, as well as state-administered federal funding, until they comply. A loss of funding might cause them to understand the difference between legal and illegal. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.