Damn! And all along the BS has been calling this a Republican issue!

I can't wait to see the results of the election on this.

Can't wait to see the petition signatures that were thrown out too.
I filed a MPIA to get copies.

I can't wait to see the suit Casa and the Criminal Liberties Union file.

Interesting how the legislators of the City and PG County were probably the most instrumental in passing the law, yet a majority of voters in the City are against it. Let's see how this law does on the ballot when we put it to the registered voters of MD (without political motivations) to decide its fate

What's Ramirez going to do? His Democratic base in Prince Georges is against this bill. What a riot! He certainly speaks for his constituents.

I noticed the petitions address was not listed,,, Hummm, wonder why. Here it is, if they let you see it.
www.mdpetitions.com

Does Mexico pay for our Kids in Mexico ? So, why should Maryland Citizens pay for their own children and those who enter the USA illegally ? Costing us 3.5 Million dollars a year and will grow as more and more are encouraged to get Maryland tax`paid benefits. Including the other 1.5 Billion NET tax loss to support illegal immigrants in Maryland.

And I am one of those proud Democrats that signed the petition. This time the Dems in the legislature went a little too far in their pandering with my money. This slap down will do them some good.

Not surprising. Actually 34 Dems in the legislature voted against the bill. This is not a partisan issue.

As usual the legislators in Annapolis again show that they are out of touch with their constituents. It would seem the majority of people we elect don't really care how WE feel on issues. My wife and two of my daughters rec'd $0 when they went to school, all Dean/Pres list scholars. Where were my tax dollars then?

Kerrie, The majority of folks in the City and in PG county SHOULD be against this bill, as should the majority in all of MD's other counties.

Every admissions slot given to the child of an illegal immigrant is one less slot given to a black student at places like UMBC, CP, Towson, Frostburg etc. It's also one less slot available to already pressed white children, particularly male students who make up 40% of campuses nationwide.

If your chances were already 40% or less would you want more slots taken up by others? They're not going to add more seats because of this law.

(oh yeah, and there's that whole free money issue too.)

Just heard on the Noon news on WBAL radio that the Catholic church is telling people not to sign or to get their names off if they have signed - human rights and dignity, it will be defeated if it's on the ballot, either next year or in subsequent years, etc.

Uh, Catholic Church, stay out of political matters - you are not supposed to get involved if you want to keep your tax-exempt status. Besides, there's also a human rights issue of exactly how much you expect us to pay for ILLEGAL - thus criminal - immigrants. How about thinking about the legal residents of this country for once?

Wrong, Mar. The Church may not endorse candidates if it wants to maintain its tax exempt status. It can take stands on political issues so long as that is not the bulk of what it does.

Being undocumented does not make you a criminal. Killing a person or raping someone makes you a criminal, no matter your immigration or citizen status. In my county, Secure Communities deported record number of undocumented and documented immigrants that were criminal and not, but mostly criminal, but crime rates (the serious stuff, murder, rape, armed robbery, gang related stuff) is at an all time high! So it's NOT something that is to blame on immigrants.
Using the word "illegal" dehumanizes them, you still have basic human rights because you are human, that many undocumented are denied of, and they are criminalized for just being hardworkers.
And no one is undocumented because they WANT to be, they're trying to get their papers but if you know ANYTHING about the immigration process, you would know it's long and tedious and favors certain (predominately white) countries over others so that immigrants of color have a harder time, and then their organization is so fucked up, there's a backlog, people are "pending" sitting in an immigration limbo waiting for things to happen.
Also, not all immigrants are from Mexico. There's a whole wide world out there. In my area, the highest immigrant groups are actually El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Ethiopia.
Also, school is a lot cheaper outside of the US, same as medical care, because they care about PEOPLE it's not about politics like in this country.

Gee, imagine that! These pinheads at the Sun are so surprised. You mean hard working Dem families don't want to pay for people that don't belong here? You mean they don't want to see their kids excluded from college, having an illegal alien taking their place??? This is "The Sun's" profiling at it's best. All Dems think alike. If I was that "pretty boy" sitting in the Governor's mansion I'd be wondering and worrying how this will effect my national plans.

Shannon, please try and cross any international border with just the clothes on your back, a wave and a smile on your face and see how far you get.
At the very minimum you better have at least, a driver's license, a visa, a passport and any other sort of OTHER documentation.
Otherwise, and read my lips, YOU ARE ILLEGAL .
I can assure you, in Latin America, South America, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and eastern European countries, if you don't have documentation you will be lucky to just be beaten rather than shot.
At least in Australia, New Zealand, and the balance of Europe, YOU WILL BE DETAINED, THEN DEPORTED.
This whole issue is no longer about education, tuition and the welfare of children, it is about political pandering and manipulation of spineless politicians that are selling us (not just MD, but the US) short.
And as a registered Democrat, I do not appreciate being labeled, or classified, as an extremist as indicated by the flyer handed out by CASA rep's or the One Maryland Defense Campaign seeking to counter this petition drive.
Bring it on CASA, OMDC and ACLU, you touched a bad nerve here.

Shannon, You are so correct. The biggest problem is how many people want to make this a partisan issue rather than address the real problem of allowing everyone to get an education, undocumented or not. The public education system in the US, especially in the major urban areas, is a bad joke. It's not the undocumented that are stealing the slots, it's the parents who don't demand their children get an education but then demand a slot for an unqualified child who are the problem. If parents would take the job seriously and require their kids learn something, we wouldn't have as many of the problems we are having. This isn't reserved for any class or race, it's prevalent across the board.

Well then Shannon, let them go to school in their home country if it's so much cheaper and THEY care about THEIR people. Further, they are illegal because they broke the law.

David,
I'm glad someone else sees that each illegal immigrant added to the rolls will bump off a legal white or black student (the child of long time, often multi-generational)

If anything here is partisan it's about the dems taking more admissions slots away from evil whitey. We're all apparently privileged, and rich, and not veterans or anything, On a side note at least males won't dwindle down to 30% of college enrollees from 40%, nope, just more white kids getting bumped out with this bill.