Actions to take about Higher Education for Immigrant Students

Access to Higher Education for Immigrant Students
Ensure that Higher Education will be available for ALL students:

1. Contact your NC Representative and Senator
NC elected officials could consider legislation this session that would not only ban
undocumented students from the NC Community College System, but also close the doors of
the entire UNC public university system. In order to gain their support, we need to show how
many of us support immigrant students! Don’t let our voices be drowned out by anti-immigrant
rhetoric…contact your local Representative and Senator and just say: “I support education for
all NC students. Don’t close the doors of higher education to anyone!” To find your elected
official, go to: http://www.ncleg.net/ and click on Representation.

2. Contact NC Speaker of the House & President Pro Tem
Contact Speaker of the House Rep. Joe Hackney (919-733-3451, ) Joeh@ncleg.net and
President Pro Tem Sen. Marc Basnight (919-733-6854, Marcb@ncleg.net) to let them know
that you do not want the NC Legislature to ban undocumented students from our community
colleges and universities.

3. Contact Governor Easley
Call Governor Easley (1-800-662-7952-NC only, 919-733-4240, or 919-733-5811) to thank him for supporting undocumented students through his public statements. Ask him to continue his
leadership in support of access to higher education for immigrant students.

4. Write a Letter to the Editor
Let's make sure that the voices heard in the media are not one-sided- all it takes is 150-200
words saying why you believe that all students deserve an opportunity to pursue their education.

5. Join us for some scheduled lobby visits
Members of the Adelante Education Coalition have volunteered to be at the legislature and
accompany people who would like to visit their NC Representative and Senator. See the back of
this sheet for dates and times of these lobby visit days.

6. Keep up with the latest developments
We’ll be hosting several conference calls over the coming weeks and months where we can all
share news, updates, report-backs from visits, and ideas for action. See the back of this sheet
for dates and times of these community conference calls. We'll be hosting several conference calls over the coming weeks and months where we can all share news, updates, report-backs from visits, and ideas for action. Dates and times of these community conference calls are: May 15 (7pm), May 28 (7pm), June 11 (7pm), and June 25 (7pm). Contact Dani Martinez-Moore, Coordinator of the Network of Immigrant Advocates for the NC Justice Center, if you are interested in participating in one of these calls.

7. Get Creative!
Can you think of other great ideas for showing your support? UNC students have started a webbased petition that has already collected hundreds of signatures. Youth leaders have
documented their stories of struggle through PhotoVoice projects. We’d love to hear what you’re
doing in your organization, school, or neighborhood!

Talking Points

This policy change will strengthen our future tax base. Immigrant
families are pulling more than their own weight when it comes to the
taxes they pay, the contribution they are making to our growing
economy, and what they bring to a diverse state like North Carolina.

This is a workforce development issue. North Carolina's state and
local governments, businesses, and industry are currently recruiting
college graduates from outside the state, as well as outside the US, to
fill shortages in the fields of business, education, and health services.

A number of students who will benefit from this policy change have the
potential to satisfy many of these essential job needs in NC.
These are qualified North Carolina students. These are high school
students who have attended elementary and secondary schools in this
state for most of their lives, who are likely to remain in the state. By
allowing them to pursue higher educations, the state can benefit from
students who are bilingual and bicultural, and able to contribute to the
state's collective productivity and economic growth.

In-state tuition and federal immigration issues are separate issues
from open enrollment admission. The recent policy change only
impacts enrollment to Community Colleges; undocumented students
must still pay out-of-state tuition, which is over $2,000 more than the
actual cost of educating the students. This policy change does not
adjust students' documentation status, reminding us of the need for
federal comprehensive immigration reform.

Lobby Visit Days
Wed, May 14 (10am) Tues, May 27 (10am)
Tues, June 10 (10am) Tues, June 24 (10am)

Community Conference Calls
Thurs, May 15 (7pm) Wed, May 28 (7pm)
Wed, June 11 (7pm) Wed, June 25 (7pm)
Contact Irene Godinez, Advocacy Director of El Pueblo for more
information:
irene@elpueblo.org or (919) 835-1525
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Adelante Education Coalition - www.adelantenc.org
SAF – 1317 W. Pettigrew Street, Durham, NC 27705 – 919-660-3652
Rosie Rangel – r.rangle@duke.edu Melinda Wiggins- mwiggins@duke.edu
NC Latino Coalition – Ivan Parra – kmparra@aol.com – 919-225-1673