Last week’s ruling by the Maryland Court of Appeals has cleared the way for a grassroots referendum on the state’s controversial Dream Act to appear on the ballot in November. The referendum gives Maryland voters — not politicians in Annapolis — the final say on whether the controversial law granting in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants remains on the books. This was the second major legal defeat for Casa de Maryland and its political supporters, who spent a year trying to prevent taxpayers from exercising this important constitutional right.
After unsuccessfully challenging the 108,923 signatures collected by MDPetitions.com that were officially certified by the State Board of Elections, CASA maintained that the Dream Act was an appropriations bill and therefore not subject to voter recall — even though it doesn’t contain any appropriations. Maryland’s highest court disagreed.
Now that CASA has run out of legal options to block the first successful voter referendum effort in 20 years, the tax-funded advocacy group is planning to spend $10 million to convince taxpayers in this sanctuary state that they should subsidize college tuition for illegal immigrants and their children, in addition to spending an estimated billion dollars annually for K-12 education, Medicaid and other costs associated with Maryland’s illegal immigrant population.
Del. Neil Parrott, R-Washington County, told The Washington Examiner that CASA is “raising huge amounts of money for a misinformation campaign,” adding that the volunteer grassroots movement he leads to repeal the law is trying to get the facts out.
One of the many misconceptions surrounding the Dream Act is that repeal would be “unfair” to children smuggled into the U.S. by their parents. CASA never mentions the inequity of providing tuition breaks at state colleges, universities and community colleges to these foreign-born students, while charging higher rates to out-of-state American citizens and international students here on student visas. If the referendum passes, they’ll all be treated exactly alike. That’s what fairness looks like.
While it’s true, as Dream Act defenders point out, that the law requires families of illegal immigrant students to file state income tax returns three years prior to receiving in-state tuition benefits, they don’t actually have to pay any state income taxes. The Dream Act is just another way for Maryland politicians to redistribute tax dollars paid by Maryland’s hard-working, law-abiding legal residents to people who cannot live, work, drive or vote in Maryland without breaking the law.
