JW VICTORY! Illegal Alien Tuition to Stay on Maryland Ballot!

From Judicial Watch:

JW VICTORY! Illegal Alien Tuition to Stay on Maryland Ballot! As many of you know, Judicial Watch has been locked in a key legal battle in Maryland over the issue of in-state tuition for illegal aliens. Judicial Watch's goal is simple: to allow voters in Maryland the opportunity to vote on a new policy passed by the state legislature in 2011 that allowed discounted tuition for illegal alien students in Maryland. Illegal immigration activists attempted to keep the issue off of the ballot by filing a lawsuit after our client,MDPetitions.com, collected more than enough signatures to put the issue to a vote this coming November. And on February 17, 2012, Judicial Watch and MDPetitions.com secured a major victory when the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County ruled in our favor. The court's decision was simple and straightforward: The sole issue before the court is whether the Maryland Dream Act is a law actually making an appropriation for maintaining the State Government and thus not subject to referendum.… …Having reviewed all of the evidence, the Court finds that the Maryland Dream Act is not a law making any appropriation, but rather an act of general legislation with a primary goal of changing eligibility requirements for students to receive in-state tuition. The Maryland Dream Act is therefore subject to referendum on the November 2012 general election ballot. Now the voters of Maryland will have the opportunity to put a stop to this wasteful, unlawful illegal alien sanctuary policy. Other states with similar illegal alien sanctuary policies will face additional pressure to abolish them. Here's the statement I offered to the press following the court's decision: This is a tremendous victory for anyone concerned about using tax dollars to subsidize the education of illegal alien lawbreakers. We are thrilled that the voters of Maryland will have the final say on the Maryland Dream Act. Illegal alien activists failed in their attempt use the courts to push their unpopular and radical agenda. American citizens are fed up with taxpayer-funded policies to benefit illegal aliens. We expect that the vote in November will put a stop to this effort to help illegal aliens at the expense of law-abiding Americans and residents. The chairman of MDPetitions.com is Maryland Assembly Delegate Neil Parrott of Washington County. Delegate Patrick McDonough of Baltimore and Harford Counties is its honorary chairman.

 

By way of review, the Maryland Dream Act was enacted by the Maryland General Assembly and signed by Governor Martin O'Malley on May 10, 2011. The law creates a new taxpayer-subsidized tuition policy - the ability to pay reduced tuition rates at Maryland community colleges and public higher education institutions - for certain eligible illegal aliens. MDPetitions.com collected 132,071 signatures, nearly twice the amount required by law to put the new benefit to voters in a referendum. Illegal aliens and the activist group Casa de Maryland challenged the petition drive in court in order to protect taxpayer dollar subsidies for the college tuition for certain illegal aliens. At first they challenged the petitions themselves. When they realized that would not work, they resorted to the thin argument that the issue could not be subject to referendum. So much for that.

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While Judicial Watch is very pleased with the court's ruling, this legal battle may not be over yet. "Together with our attorneys, we are still reviewing today's decision, but we are likely to appeal," Kim Propeack, director of political action at Casa de Maryland, told the Baltimore Sun following the court's ruling. As Judicial Watch Director of Litigation Paul Orfanedes told a local Maryland newspaper, we think that success on appeal is unlikely, "Hands down, it's not an appropriation, and we think the Court got it right." MdPetitions.com's chairman, Delegate Parrott, is also confident: "The lower court ruling sets a huge precedent…It's a hurdle that's too high to overcome…The other side simply doesn't have a good case," Delegate Parrott told MarylandReporter.com. Regarding the battle for the hearts and minds of Maryland voters, that is already underway. Casa de Maryland recently announced plans to launch a $10 million fundraising campaign to convince voters that they shouldn't overturn the illegal alien tuition policy on Election Day. We think and hope voters will reject the illegal alien advocate's articles and vote the in-state tuition policy down in November. And we're proud to have been instrumental in protecting their sovereign right do so! Stay tuned…