Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) said he would veto a bill barring undocumented immigrant students from receiving in-state tuition at state universities, which passed a Senate committee Thursday.
A spokesman for the governor called the legislation, put forward in the House and Senate by two Loudoun County Republicans, “counterproductive and mean-spirited.” The Senate version advanced Thursday morning out of the Senate Education and Health Committee on a party-line vote of 8 to 7.
McAuliffe “is focused on expanding economic opportunity to Virginians from all walks of life, not targeting some for discrimination,” spokesman Brian Coy added.
In his first State of the Commonwealth address Wednesday night, McAuliffe called for passage of a state version of the so-called Dream Act that would grant in-state tuition to some students who were brought to the country illegally as children. Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) has already ruled that students who qualify for deferred action under President Obama’s recent executive order can apply for the tuition discount.
“The Senators who voted for this measure should meet some of the young people they are trying to punish,” Herring said in a statement Thursday.
Herring is right. Black and Ramadan should have to meet some of the kids they are attempting to discriminate against. I think they would feel like worthless dogs if they ever met some of these kids that have worked so hard to become something.
