A group of Georgia Republicans, working with two Democrats, are looking to pass legislation that would give in-state college tuition to illegal aliens enrolled in former President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Georgia State Reps. Kasey Carpenter (R), Dale Washburn (R), Bill Werkheiser (R), and Penny Houston (R) are sponsoring HB 131 to open in-state college and university tuition rates to about 15,000 DACA illegal aliens.
Democrat Reps. Long Tran and Pedro Marin are also sponsoring the bill.
“It’s a no-brainer,” Carpenter told Axios of the legislation. Carpenter tried to pass the same bill last year but the effort ultimately failed to gain traction with enough Republicans.
Should Republicans in Georgia successfully pass the legislation, it would put them on par with Republicans in other states in recent years that have helped secure in-state tuition for illegal aliens.
This year, Republican legislators in Indiana — who have a supermajority — are considering a similar policy, while Republicans in Arizona, last year, helped get a law over the finish line that reverses a ban on in-state tuition for illegal aliens.
Likewise, many red states like Texas, Kansas, Utah, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Kentucky have long allowed illegal aliens to take advantage of in-state tuition rates.
Such a policy in Georgia would almost certainly attract more illegal aliens to the state. Already, about 750,000 illegal aliens and their United States-born children live in Georgia.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.