Education & Immigration Policy

By Mike Halliwell

Illegal immigrants should not pay lower tuition in public colleges and universities than American citizens from other states. Student loan interest should be kept from doubling and stay at 3.4%, by redirecting funds from discretionary funds now under control (as provided by ObamaCare) of the the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Employers must use E-verify to prove that at least 50% of those employed are American citizens. Replace the 50,000 visa lottery.

With California now spending more on prison guard salaries than support for higher education, this is certainly no time to cut back on barely adequate federal support for college students. The most pressing issue here is the interest rate on student loans. Solid majorities of both parties in the House support keeping the interest rate for Stafford Student loans at 3.4%, instead of allowing it to revert to 6.8% under terms set by the Democrat-controlled Congress in 2007. The key dispute was over how to pay for keeping the 3.4% rate. Republicans refer to their "pay for" as a "slush fund" elimination, because the money involved has been placed under the total control Secretary of Health and Human Services, to shield it from the normal appropriation process (as part of the deals required to secure passage of ObamaCare in 2010). This fund had been previously tapped by the Obama Administration to help pay for its cutback in normal Social Security contributions (Payroll Tax Holiday). On April 27, 2012 most Republicans in the House (202) and a pivotal group of Democrats (13) joined to support passage of HR 4628 to use the "slush fund" to pay for the 3.4% rate extension. All of the worthy uses of this money which Kathleen Sibelius says she would pay for from her eliminated "slush fund" can still be included in normal appropriations for the current and future fiscal years. Both Mike Thompson and Lynn Woolsey voted against HR 4268. For new workforce entrants facing unfair job competition from illegal immigrants, the American Dream Act (HR 1275 of 2007, sponsored by Representatives Howard Berman and Lynn Woolsey) is more like a nightmare. It is completely unfair to charge more tuition in state public colleges and universities to American citizens from other states than to those who came here illegally from other countries.

Most illegal immigrant children don't go to college, and many become members of violent gangs, which often become involved in turf battles (for control of illegal drug use markets) between minority ethnic groups. This strife makes life in many ghettos and barrios a living hell. I support the 2006 bill (HR 6094), which provides community protection from gang violence by deporting gang members who have entered this country illegally, without waiting for them to commit further illegal acts. I also support bolstering border security, as a 2006 bill (HR 6095) does, by providing more effective prosecution of alien smugglers.

In the long run, immigration can play a beneficial role in providing a larger workforce to support retirement benefits for the large number of elderly in the "baby boom" generation. However, when immigration exceeds authorized levels, it provides unfair competition when the number of available jobs is insufficient to meet the needs of unemployed American citizens. In my previous North Bay congressional campaigns I have advocated increased penalties for employers who cannot show (using the e-verify process to determine which workers are American citizens or other lawful residents) that at least half of their employees are eligible to work in this country. Since minorities are less than half of the legitimate workforce, this mandate would have no discriminatory impact on those who "look foreign." In some cases illegal workers with no family ties in this country would return home, in others they would shift to industries where their concentration is not great enough to drive down wages and undermine working conditions. Where an illegal worker has an American citizen in the family, he or she can take over domestic responsibilities, as the work eligible family member becomes the "bread winner."

When one takes into account the declining percentage of those in the normal work ages who are working or still looking for work, the various Obama Stimulus Packages have had almost no impact in reducing unemployment. There is really no room for any increase in legal immigration, or failure to enforce the law with respect to illegal immigration, until this situation improves, by at least 3% or 4% in the work-force adjusted unemployment rate.

However, I stand by my prior campaign plank to support the 2005 Goodlatte Amendment to HR 4437 to replace the 50,000 annual visas distributed via a lottery with an equal number reserved for Mexican citizens. The Mexican government would be responsible for deciding how much of this special allocation should go to those waiting in line in Mexico to "go north" and how many would go to those already in the U.S. without authorization. Many new immigrants send money home, but when it goes to Mexico, much of it will eventually return to Mexico's largest trading partner, the United States.