A bill that would prevent undocumented students from working passed out of a legislative committee yesterday, despite the protests of U student leaders who said the bill would only prevent such students from receiving a higher education. House Bill 208 would require all undocumented students to sign an affidavit stating that they have not worked during the last calendar year, or else their eligibility to pay in-state tuition would be revoked.
The bill passed through the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee by a near unanimous vote on Wednesday, and will now be presented to the Utah House of Representatives for a vote.
Bill sponsor Rep. Richard Greenwood, R-Roy, explained that the bill does not try to punish or harm undocumented students, but to help them understand that they are committing serious crimes.
“If an undocumented student is working, he or she must have supplied a social security number that is not their own,” Greenwood said. “Using someone else’s social security number is a felony. We are trying to protect students from unintentionally breaking the law.”
Jon Hayes, vice president of the Associated Students of the University of Utah, said the bill extinguishes the opportunity for undocumented students to get an education.
“It is impossible to go to college without working,” Hayes said. “If this bill passes there is no way undocumented students can pay for school by themselves. You will have effectively eliminated them as potential students.”
Greenwood said that the bill does not mention or address the issue of in-state tuition, but rather is an attempt to fight identity theft and other related felonies. He also indicated that the bill is an attempt to help students realize that they cannot break the law without facing serious consequences.
But other representatives and activists see the bill as a direct attack on undocumented students.
“Although this bill does not set out to harm individuals, that is exactly what it does,” said Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake City, the only committee member to vote against the bill. “I think that the unintended consequence will be that you will deny access to higher education to students that are working to make their life better.”
Student Body President Patrick Reimherr also said that the bill has major flaws.
“This bill creates a climate of fear, and targets a small portion of the student body at the U,” he said. “We need to focus on pathways and solutions, not on trying to prevent people from having the opportunity to get a higher education.”
Litvack indicated that the students affected most by the bill are being unfairly targeted.
“Most of these students were brought to this country as infants,” he said. “They don’t know any other home. They are Americans in every way, except the papers that say they are legal. How can we sit here in good conscious and deny them the right to a higher education?”