College students from across Arkansas rallied at the state capitol in support of Senate Bill 799. The bill allows undocumented students in Arkansas, who are accepted to in-state colleges, to pay the in-state tuition rate.
Senator Joyce Elliott calls it the Dream Act, but other lawmakers, including Governor Mike Beebe, question the bill's legality.
"For folks who are legal minds, I respect Governor Beebe. I have researched this for years. let me say it slightly, they are wrong," said Senator Joyce Elliott.
She says as a state we need to allow undocumented students in Arkansas who are accepted to colleges as in-state students to pay the in-state tuition rate. “It's about our state and whether we're going to create an underclass of people not prepared to contribute," she says.
If this bill is enacted into law, these students would be required to sign affidavits declaring their intent to legalize immigration.
“No doubt, the outcome in Arkansas, we will be on the bottom, by policy, we are saying, we're not going to allow everyone access to a degree, we are saying we choose to be on the bottom," said Sen. Elliott.
But for some senators, including Senator Denny Altes, there's another problem. “We've had two lawyers who are Senators, and they say the way they read the law this is plainly against federal law."
Senator Elliott will present the bill to the Senate Education Committee next week. Elliott says her bill does not provide scholarships or affect Arkansas citizens' ability to attend college.
When Governor Mike Beebe was Attorney General in 2005, he issued an opinion stating that this would likely violate the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
