The state community colleges' policy of not allowing undocumented students to enroll punishes students for something over which they had no control and leaves them without hope, said some of the presenters at a forum on the issue last night in Winston-Salem.
"This is about children," said Nolo Martinez, the assistant director of Outreach and Community Engagement at the Center for New North Carolinians at UNC Greensboro.
Martinez was one of three main presenters at the forum sponsored by the nonprofit organization Forsyth Education Partnership in cooperation with Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.
The education partnership works to promote community dialogue and education and does not have a position on undocumented students.
Since May 2008, the states' community colleges have not permitted undocumented students to enroll. It is considering three options: continuing that policy, admitting them and charging in-state tuition, or admitting them and charging out-of-state tuition.
Immigration lawyer Mark Atkinson, another presenter at the forum, said he thinks that many people who oppose allowing undocumented students to attend college misunderstand the problem.
As it is, even people who are eligible for lawful permanent status may have to wait up to three years to get a green card and others, such as people who were brought into the country as children by their parents, find themselves in the position of having no way to obtain legal status.
About 50 people attended the forum in the auditorium of the school system's administrative offices. The third presenter was Tony Asion, the executive director of El Pueblo, an advocacy organization for Hispanics.
Asion made the point that cutting them off from higher education punishes the state's economy by depriving it of what could be a vital pool of educated workers. The state is so short of nurses that nurses from the Philippines are being brought in, he said.
"Why is it that we can't use these kids and train them to be nurses?" he asked. "If we don't give the kids here an opportunity, it's our loss."
Among the other speakers were schools Superintendent Don Martin and Gary M. Green, the president of Forsyth Technical Community College.
Green pointed out that, since he became Forsyth Tech's president in 2004, there have been four different policies regarding undocumented students. As he sees it, he said, the issue of whether to admit undocumented students is partly a matter of principle.
"Under American law, children are not held responsible for the illegal acts of their parents," Green said. "In this case, we do."
On the practical side, he said, providing people with the best possible education makes the most sense.
"If we don't provide them with education, what then?" he said. "I think this is one of the most critical issues that our community colleges have addressed in the last decade."
■ Kim Underwood can be reached at 727-7389 or at kunderwood@wsjournal.com.
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