Byline: Bryon Okada, and Diane Smith
Apr. 27--As a result of a major immigration sting last week, the federal government and the media are being swamped with calls asking about raids across the country, including in Fort Worth -- even though no random raids are being conducted.
One such call sent Star-Telegram reporters scrambling Tuesday night to the Fiesta supermarket near the Fort Worth Stockyards.
No raid had taken place, officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. But the fact that the report occurred is not surprising, they said. "There's panic in the streets that there are vans in the Wal-Mart parking lot," Dallas ICE spokesman Carl Rusnock said.
"We've been swamped with calls ever since the operations." He said the ICE field office in Chicago received 80 calls Monday.
Last week, in the wake of national protests about a proposed overhaul of immigration laws, ICE arrested 1,187 illegal immigrants in 26 states, including Texas.
Seven managers of IFCO Systems North America, a Houston-based pallet services company, were also arrested. More than half the company's employees had falsified Social Security numbers, ICE officials said. The managers, charged with conspiring to help undocumented workers falsify their identities to further the company's interests, face up to 10 years in federal prison.
The IFCO bust was an isolated operation and part of a strategy to target egregious offenders,
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and ICE head Julie Myers said in a statement.
In fact, the IFCO operation was an involved investigation that began in February 2005 and, therefore, was not in response to the protests, Rusnock said. The overall priority of immigration enforcement is to catch criminal aliens.
Of the 160,700 people deported in fiscal 2005, 84,300 had rap sheets, according to ICE statistics. As for the others, "Anyone who is in this country illegally runs the risk of being located, identified, arrested, detained and deported," Rusnock said. Meanwhile, a heightened sense of fear has permeated Spanish-speaking immigrant communities.
In her rural Texas community, one illegal immigrant -- who asked not to be identified because she fears being detained -- said authorities have reportedly been making the rounds. The rumor is that agents are looking for single men or people with outstanding warrants.
"No one has papers in my house except my son, who was just born," she said. "Everyone knows everyone -- they know we are here, and we can't do nothing." Hispanic media sources have been getting calls, officials said.
Omar Romero, brand manager for Spanish-language radio station KEGL/97.1 FM "La Preciosa" in Dallas, said listeners have been calling constantly for the past two weeks trying to find out where immigration raids might take place -- or to report seeing one.
"People are very scared. People are scared to pick up their kids from school. People are scared to go shopping. Now they're even scared to go to work," Romero said. The station estimates that its listeners are about 75 percent immigrants.
HELP FOR FAMILIES San Antonio may help the families of illegal immigrants arrested in raids. Imelda Lopez's husband was deported to Mexico after an immigration raid at IFCO Systems. 16B Thousands of Central Americans are holding out hope that immigration law will change soon. They are delaying renewal of permits that allow them to live in the U.S. temporarily. 4B Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison oppose the Senate immigration plan. 11A ------------
Bryon Okada, (817) 390-7752 okada@star-telegram.com
Copyright (c) 2006, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
April 27, 2006
March 10, 2006
ICE Arrests 375 Gang Members and Associates in Two-Week Enforcement Action
ICE Arrests 375 Gang Members and Associates in Two-Week Enforcement Action
Release Date: 03/10/06 00:00:00
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: ICE Public Affairs, 202-514-2648
March 10, 2006
During a two-week enforcement action that culminated yesterday, federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 375 gang members and associates in 23 states in a joint effort with law enforcement agencies nationwide.
The arrests are the latest under the auspices of “Operation Community Shield,” a comprehensive initiative launched by ICE roughly one year ago to disrupt and dismantle transnational, violent street gangs. Operation Community Shield represents the first time the federal government has used immigration and customs authorities in a combined, national campaign against criminal street gangs in the United States.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the results at a press conference today with ICE Assistant Secretary Julie Myers; Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Emilio Gonzalez; Assistant Director of Field Operations at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Michael Bouchard, First Assistant Chief of the Dallas Police Department David O’Neal Brown, and Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division Deborah Pierce.
In the past year, ICE has conducted several targeted enforcement actions under Operation Community Shield, including the latest one. In total, these efforts have resulted in the arrest of 2,388 members of 239 different gangs and the seizure of 117 firearms. Fifty-one of those arrested were gang leaders. Roughly 922 of those arrested were from the street gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Those arrested under Operation Community Shield are prosecuted criminally or removed from the United States through immigration proceedings. To date, 533 have been charged criminally, while 1,855 have been hit with administrative immigration charges.
In the latest enforcement action that began on Feb. 24, 2006, ICE teamed up with its law enforcement partners to arrest large numbers of gang members in Dallas (44), San Diego (41), Washington, D.C. (22), Miami (22), and Raleigh, N.C. (19). Gang members were also arrested in locations such as Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Des Moines, Iowa; and Springfield, Missouri. Those arrested included members of MS-13, Surenos, 18th Street Gang, Latin Kings, Bloods, Crips, Armenian Power, Street Thug Criminals, Brown Pride, Asian Dragon Family, Avenue Assassins, Spanish Gangster Disciples, Big Time Killers and Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos.
More than 260 of the 375 individuals arrested in the latest action have past criminal records, most of them violent. ICE agents arrested 73 of the individuals on new criminal charges ranging from drug and firearms violations to charges of re-entering the country after deportation. The rest have been accused of administrative immigration violations and placed into deportation proceedings. Some of those arrested include:
Convicted murderer & gang member whose son is charged with shooting an ICE agent -- On March 3, ICE agents in South Texas arrested Juan Eladio Villareal-Saenza, a convicted murderer and member of the gang, Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos, on criminal charges of re-entry after deportation. The same day, ICE agents and U.S. Marshals deputies arrested his son, Leobardo Villareal, who was wanted on federal charges of shooting ICE agent Maria Ochoa in May 2005; escaping from federal custody; and federal drug violations. After his first arrest for the attempted murder of an ICE agent, Leobardo Villareal escaped in Sept. 2005 from the McAllen Medical Center, where he allegedly carjacked a mother and her children to flee. He was later featured on “America’s Most Wanted.”
Gang member who robbed state representative & beat individual in the head with bat – On Feb. 28, ICE agents worked with the Fuquay-Varina, N.C. Police Department to arrest Jose Carlos Peralta-Morales, a Surenos gang member who was observed that day beating an individual in the head with an aluminum baseball bat in a Wal-Mart store. ICE interviews of the suspect revealed that he had previously been deported in May 2005 and had been convicted of robbery / accessory after the fact in connection with an incident in which gang members broke into and robbed the house of a North Carolina state representative. Peralta-Morales faces federal criminal prosecution.
“The lawlessness that these violent gangs propagate presents a grave threat to public safety,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “We are meeting their victimization of the innocent with hard-hitting enforcement actions that lead to criminal prosecutions and deportations. Operation Community Shield embodies the power behind law enforcement partnerships, at all levels, to share information and combat these intolerable criminal elements.”
“Transnational street gangs pose a growing public safety threat to urban and rural communities throughout the United States. Their violence, sophistication, and scope have reached intolerable levels,” said ICE Assistant Secretary Myers. “Operation Community Shield demonstrates how ICE is working with its law enforcement partners and leveraging its broad authorities to disrupt these criminal organizations on a national scale.”
Partnerships with law enforcement / Impact on violent crime
Law enforcement partnerships at the local level are critical to the success of Operation Community Shield. Recent collaboration in Dallas was representative of joint operations nationwide. In Dallas, ICE received data from the Dallas Police Department about local violent gang members. ICE conducted further investigation to determine if any were subject to arrest for federal customs or immigration violations. After identifying targets subject to ICE authorities, ICE and Dallas police conducted a joint operation that netted 44 gang members.
First Assistant Chief of the Dallas Police Department David O’Neal Brown said, “Operation Community Shield has had a direct impact on violent crime in the Dallas area. Over the past year, the murder rate in the Dallas metropolitan area decreased roughly twenty percent compared to the year before. This is a successful program that the Dallas Police Department is proud to participate in.”
ICE has also worked with its partners at the federal level. In the recent action, ICE teamed with USCIS to identify 48 MS-13 members who had recently applied for immigration benefits by comparing its list of thousands of gang targets against the USCIS database of immigration benefit applicants. This effort led to the arrest of 4 MS-13 members and the placement of immigration detainers on 8 MS-13 members in custody.
“Operation Community Shield is a prime example of how USCIS and ICE have joined forces to identify and remove those who pose a threat to public safety,” said USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez. “Just this past year, USCIS identified and referred more than 4,000 cases involving fraud to ICE. This joint anti-fraud and national security effort is a major priority for the Department of Homeland Security.”
ICE has also worked closely with its partners at the ATF and FBI. ICE has been coordinating street gang operations with the ATF’s Violent Crime Impact Team (VCIT) initiative, which operates in 23 cities throughout the country to identify, arrest, and prosecute the most violent criminals in communities. The VCIT is especially focused on the reduction of gun-related violence often perpetrated by violent gangs. ICE has also been coordinating all its gang targets with the FBI and its MS-13 National Gang Task Force prior to arrest.
About Operation Community Shield
Operation Community Shield was launched in February 2005 after a threat assessment by ICE field offices identified MS-13 as one of the largest and most violent street gangs in the country. The assessment found that most of these gang members were foreign-born; in the United States illegally; had prior criminal convictions; and/or were involved in crimes that made them subject to ICE’s broad immigration and customs authorities.
ICE kicked off Operation Community Shield with an enforcement action that resulted in the arrest of more than 100 members of MS-13. In the months that followed, ICE agents nationwide joined ranks and continued targeting MS-13 members in their jurisdictions. In May 2005, ICE expanded Operation Community Shield to include all criminal street gangs and prison gangs with foreign-born members.
Since that time, ICE has been targeting all violent gang members nationwide by using its administrative immigration authorities to detain and remove illegal alien gang members from the country and by using its criminal authorities to arrest and prosecute gang members involved in criminal activities.
###
http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/press_release_0878.shtm
Release Date: 03/10/06 00:00:00
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: ICE Public Affairs, 202-514-2648
March 10, 2006
During a two-week enforcement action that culminated yesterday, federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 375 gang members and associates in 23 states in a joint effort with law enforcement agencies nationwide.
The arrests are the latest under the auspices of “Operation Community Shield,” a comprehensive initiative launched by ICE roughly one year ago to disrupt and dismantle transnational, violent street gangs. Operation Community Shield represents the first time the federal government has used immigration and customs authorities in a combined, national campaign against criminal street gangs in the United States.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the results at a press conference today with ICE Assistant Secretary Julie Myers; Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Emilio Gonzalez; Assistant Director of Field Operations at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Michael Bouchard, First Assistant Chief of the Dallas Police Department David O’Neal Brown, and Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division Deborah Pierce.
In the past year, ICE has conducted several targeted enforcement actions under Operation Community Shield, including the latest one. In total, these efforts have resulted in the arrest of 2,388 members of 239 different gangs and the seizure of 117 firearms. Fifty-one of those arrested were gang leaders. Roughly 922 of those arrested were from the street gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Those arrested under Operation Community Shield are prosecuted criminally or removed from the United States through immigration proceedings. To date, 533 have been charged criminally, while 1,855 have been hit with administrative immigration charges.
In the latest enforcement action that began on Feb. 24, 2006, ICE teamed up with its law enforcement partners to arrest large numbers of gang members in Dallas (44), San Diego (41), Washington, D.C. (22), Miami (22), and Raleigh, N.C. (19). Gang members were also arrested in locations such as Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Des Moines, Iowa; and Springfield, Missouri. Those arrested included members of MS-13, Surenos, 18th Street Gang, Latin Kings, Bloods, Crips, Armenian Power, Street Thug Criminals, Brown Pride, Asian Dragon Family, Avenue Assassins, Spanish Gangster Disciples, Big Time Killers and Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos.
More than 260 of the 375 individuals arrested in the latest action have past criminal records, most of them violent. ICE agents arrested 73 of the individuals on new criminal charges ranging from drug and firearms violations to charges of re-entering the country after deportation. The rest have been accused of administrative immigration violations and placed into deportation proceedings. Some of those arrested include:
Convicted murderer & gang member whose son is charged with shooting an ICE agent -- On March 3, ICE agents in South Texas arrested Juan Eladio Villareal-Saenza, a convicted murderer and member of the gang, Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos, on criminal charges of re-entry after deportation. The same day, ICE agents and U.S. Marshals deputies arrested his son, Leobardo Villareal, who was wanted on federal charges of shooting ICE agent Maria Ochoa in May 2005; escaping from federal custody; and federal drug violations. After his first arrest for the attempted murder of an ICE agent, Leobardo Villareal escaped in Sept. 2005 from the McAllen Medical Center, where he allegedly carjacked a mother and her children to flee. He was later featured on “America’s Most Wanted.”
Gang member who robbed state representative & beat individual in the head with bat – On Feb. 28, ICE agents worked with the Fuquay-Varina, N.C. Police Department to arrest Jose Carlos Peralta-Morales, a Surenos gang member who was observed that day beating an individual in the head with an aluminum baseball bat in a Wal-Mart store. ICE interviews of the suspect revealed that he had previously been deported in May 2005 and had been convicted of robbery / accessory after the fact in connection with an incident in which gang members broke into and robbed the house of a North Carolina state representative. Peralta-Morales faces federal criminal prosecution.
“The lawlessness that these violent gangs propagate presents a grave threat to public safety,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “We are meeting their victimization of the innocent with hard-hitting enforcement actions that lead to criminal prosecutions and deportations. Operation Community Shield embodies the power behind law enforcement partnerships, at all levels, to share information and combat these intolerable criminal elements.”
“Transnational street gangs pose a growing public safety threat to urban and rural communities throughout the United States. Their violence, sophistication, and scope have reached intolerable levels,” said ICE Assistant Secretary Myers. “Operation Community Shield demonstrates how ICE is working with its law enforcement partners and leveraging its broad authorities to disrupt these criminal organizations on a national scale.”
Partnerships with law enforcement / Impact on violent crime
Law enforcement partnerships at the local level are critical to the success of Operation Community Shield. Recent collaboration in Dallas was representative of joint operations nationwide. In Dallas, ICE received data from the Dallas Police Department about local violent gang members. ICE conducted further investigation to determine if any were subject to arrest for federal customs or immigration violations. After identifying targets subject to ICE authorities, ICE and Dallas police conducted a joint operation that netted 44 gang members.
First Assistant Chief of the Dallas Police Department David O’Neal Brown said, “Operation Community Shield has had a direct impact on violent crime in the Dallas area. Over the past year, the murder rate in the Dallas metropolitan area decreased roughly twenty percent compared to the year before. This is a successful program that the Dallas Police Department is proud to participate in.”
ICE has also worked with its partners at the federal level. In the recent action, ICE teamed with USCIS to identify 48 MS-13 members who had recently applied for immigration benefits by comparing its list of thousands of gang targets against the USCIS database of immigration benefit applicants. This effort led to the arrest of 4 MS-13 members and the placement of immigration detainers on 8 MS-13 members in custody.
“Operation Community Shield is a prime example of how USCIS and ICE have joined forces to identify and remove those who pose a threat to public safety,” said USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez. “Just this past year, USCIS identified and referred more than 4,000 cases involving fraud to ICE. This joint anti-fraud and national security effort is a major priority for the Department of Homeland Security.”
ICE has also worked closely with its partners at the ATF and FBI. ICE has been coordinating street gang operations with the ATF’s Violent Crime Impact Team (VCIT) initiative, which operates in 23 cities throughout the country to identify, arrest, and prosecute the most violent criminals in communities. The VCIT is especially focused on the reduction of gun-related violence often perpetrated by violent gangs. ICE has also been coordinating all its gang targets with the FBI and its MS-13 National Gang Task Force prior to arrest.
About Operation Community Shield
Operation Community Shield was launched in February 2005 after a threat assessment by ICE field offices identified MS-13 as one of the largest and most violent street gangs in the country. The assessment found that most of these gang members were foreign-born; in the United States illegally; had prior criminal convictions; and/or were involved in crimes that made them subject to ICE’s broad immigration and customs authorities.
ICE kicked off Operation Community Shield with an enforcement action that resulted in the arrest of more than 100 members of MS-13. In the months that followed, ICE agents nationwide joined ranks and continued targeting MS-13 members in their jurisdictions. In May 2005, ICE expanded Operation Community Shield to include all criminal street gangs and prison gangs with foreign-born members.
Since that time, ICE has been targeting all violent gang members nationwide by using its administrative immigration authorities to detain and remove illegal alien gang members from the country and by using its criminal authorities to arrest and prosecute gang members involved in criminal activities.
###
http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/press_release_0878.shtm
July 21, 2005
Colleges see rise in illegal aliens
Posted on Thu, Jul. 21, 2005
Star Telegram Online
Colleges see rise in illegal aliens
By Patrick Mcgee
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Texas public colleges have seen a spike in the enrollment of illegal immigrants since the Legislature approved a measure allowing them to pay in-state tuition rates.
The number of illegal immigrants attending public institutions, particularly community colleges, is nine times higher than when the change was adopted, according to data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
In 2001, Texas became the first state to offer in-state tuition and state financial aid to illegal immigrants. Eight other states, including California and New York, have adopted similar measures.
State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, who cosponsored the legislation, said she's pleased to see the strong enrollment patterns.
"Every single student that gets a higher education is going to be able to earn more. That's a great big economic stimulator," she said.
Texas residents would pay an average of $4,847 in tuition and fees for the coming school year at public universities, far less than the $12,927 charged to out-of-state residents. At community colleges, the average in-state cost would be $1,631, compared with $3,405 for nonresidents, according to the coordinating board.
The law also makes illegal immigrants eligible for state financial aid, but it is not known how many have benefited from state loans and grants.
Late last year, the state comptroller reported that more than 82,000 freshmen were denied state grants because there was not enough money for all eligible students.
Groups like the Washington, D.C.-based Federation for American Immigration Reform oppose giving such opportunities to illegal immigrants.
"These are people illegally in the country who are not entitled to work legally, so investing higher education in them makes no sense," said Jack Martin, the organization's special-project director.
"Secondly, because admission spaces are limited, Texas residents are being denied entry ... and third it makes no sense to ask Texas taxpayers to support with in-state tuition persons who do not belong in the country," he said.
By fall 2004, nearly 3,700 illegal immigrants were enrolled and paying in-state tuition at Texas' public institutions, according to the state data. In fall 2001, the first semester this benefit was available, 393 illegal immigrants paid in-state tuition.
The growth could be even sharper, because it appears that some institutions did not report the enrollment of these students to the state.
The highest growth was at the University of Houston, which had 146 illegal immigrants enrolled in fall 2004, and Dallas Community College, which had 744.
Enrollment of illegal immigrants also grew steadily at the University of Texas at Arlington and Tarrant County College. TCC had 142 illegal immigrants in fall 2004. UT-Arlington had 44, more than any other university except Houston and the state's selective flagship universities, the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University.
UT-Austin had 142 and A&M had 62. This comes as spots at the flagship campuses are especially coveted. Applications to UT-Austin and A&M have increased by about a third in less than a decade.
The University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University, both in Denton, also saw an increase in the enrollment of illegal immigrants.
University officials say they are just obeying the law.
"Being a public university, we're bound by state law to admit those students if they meet our academic requirements," A&M spokesman Lane Stephenson said.
Augustine Garza, deputy director of admissions at UT-Austin, said his office does not look at these students' applications differently from anyone else's.
"We treat them all exactly the same," he said. "If it's a law, we would be obligated to follow the law."
Offering opportunity
Most illegal-immigrant students, however, are enrolled in community colleges.
Edgar, an 18-year-old Fort Worth resident who came here illegally from Mexico with his family six years ago, has taken two semesters at TCC and plans to enroll again for the fall semester.
Edgar, who asked that his last name not be used, said his high school guidance counselor told him that he could pay in-state tuition and apply for state financial aid.
"I want to have something I can offer to my children, you know, to my wife. That's why I'm going to school right now," he said. "If I don't get a career, where am I going to be at? Am I going to be working at McDonald's all my life?"
Edgar said he received enough state grant money to pay nearly all of his tuition.
He said that he's aware of views like those held by the Federation for American Immigration Reform but that he doesn't believe anyone should be held back. He said many Americans pass up the chance to go to college, so the opportunities should go to the willing.
"They should let us get the same thing they're getting," he said. "Let anyone who wants to make this place a better world."
In 1999, the Dallas Community College District became the first college in Texas, possibly in the nation, to allow illegal immigrants to pay the same tuition as residents.
District Trustee Diana Flores said she and other board members believed that it would only be fair to offer illegal immigrants the same rate as everyone else if they meet the same requirement of living in the district for at least a year.
"Our view was that they're going through the public school system anyway and it's a tragedy for them not to be able to go on to higher education if that's what they wanted," she said. "We saw them as taxpayers, and we felt that they should be treated in the same way as people who were born here."
A study released by the Pew Hispanic Center in June found that illegal-immigrant families earn about $20,000 less than American families and that poverty rates are higher among illegal-immigrant children than adults. Thirty percent of U.S. citizens have bachelor's degrees, compared with 15 percent of illegal immigrants.
Some hope that increasing access to education will improve those numbers, and there's a push to make federal financial aid for college available to illegal immigrants.
Melissa Lazarin, an education-policy analyst for the National Council of La Raza, said her organization is working to reintroduce a bill in Congress that would make federal financial aid for college available to illegal immigrants.
The bill stalled in the last session of Congress, but Lazarin said she has higher hopes this time.
"We have another 15 or 16 states that have been trying to pass similar legislation. ... This is popping up all over and not just in quote-unquote Latino states," Lazarin said. "I think it's becoming very clear to Congress that this is something that does need to be addressed."
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, has filed a similar bill and said students shouldn't be punished for being brought here illegally by their parents or guardians when they were young.
"It creates additional talent here in the United States, an additional employment base," she said. "It is an investment that hopefully will turn around real results."
CHART: ENROLLMENT OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS; STAR-TELEGRAM DAVE SEYMOUR
Patrick McGee, (817) 548-5476 pmcgee@star-telegram.com
Star Telegram Online
Colleges see rise in illegal aliens
By Patrick Mcgee
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Texas public colleges have seen a spike in the enrollment of illegal immigrants since the Legislature approved a measure allowing them to pay in-state tuition rates.
The number of illegal immigrants attending public institutions, particularly community colleges, is nine times higher than when the change was adopted, according to data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
In 2001, Texas became the first state to offer in-state tuition and state financial aid to illegal immigrants. Eight other states, including California and New York, have adopted similar measures.
State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, who cosponsored the legislation, said she's pleased to see the strong enrollment patterns.
"Every single student that gets a higher education is going to be able to earn more. That's a great big economic stimulator," she said.
Texas residents would pay an average of $4,847 in tuition and fees for the coming school year at public universities, far less than the $12,927 charged to out-of-state residents. At community colleges, the average in-state cost would be $1,631, compared with $3,405 for nonresidents, according to the coordinating board.
The law also makes illegal immigrants eligible for state financial aid, but it is not known how many have benefited from state loans and grants.
Late last year, the state comptroller reported that more than 82,000 freshmen were denied state grants because there was not enough money for all eligible students.
Groups like the Washington, D.C.-based Federation for American Immigration Reform oppose giving such opportunities to illegal immigrants.
"These are people illegally in the country who are not entitled to work legally, so investing higher education in them makes no sense," said Jack Martin, the organization's special-project director.
"Secondly, because admission spaces are limited, Texas residents are being denied entry ... and third it makes no sense to ask Texas taxpayers to support with in-state tuition persons who do not belong in the country," he said.
By fall 2004, nearly 3,700 illegal immigrants were enrolled and paying in-state tuition at Texas' public institutions, according to the state data. In fall 2001, the first semester this benefit was available, 393 illegal immigrants paid in-state tuition.
The growth could be even sharper, because it appears that some institutions did not report the enrollment of these students to the state.
The highest growth was at the University of Houston, which had 146 illegal immigrants enrolled in fall 2004, and Dallas Community College, which had 744.
Enrollment of illegal immigrants also grew steadily at the University of Texas at Arlington and Tarrant County College. TCC had 142 illegal immigrants in fall 2004. UT-Arlington had 44, more than any other university except Houston and the state's selective flagship universities, the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University.
UT-Austin had 142 and A&M had 62. This comes as spots at the flagship campuses are especially coveted. Applications to UT-Austin and A&M have increased by about a third in less than a decade.
The University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University, both in Denton, also saw an increase in the enrollment of illegal immigrants.
University officials say they are just obeying the law.
"Being a public university, we're bound by state law to admit those students if they meet our academic requirements," A&M spokesman Lane Stephenson said.
Augustine Garza, deputy director of admissions at UT-Austin, said his office does not look at these students' applications differently from anyone else's.
"We treat them all exactly the same," he said. "If it's a law, we would be obligated to follow the law."
Offering opportunity
Most illegal-immigrant students, however, are enrolled in community colleges.
Edgar, an 18-year-old Fort Worth resident who came here illegally from Mexico with his family six years ago, has taken two semesters at TCC and plans to enroll again for the fall semester.
Edgar, who asked that his last name not be used, said his high school guidance counselor told him that he could pay in-state tuition and apply for state financial aid.
"I want to have something I can offer to my children, you know, to my wife. That's why I'm going to school right now," he said. "If I don't get a career, where am I going to be at? Am I going to be working at McDonald's all my life?"
Edgar said he received enough state grant money to pay nearly all of his tuition.
He said that he's aware of views like those held by the Federation for American Immigration Reform but that he doesn't believe anyone should be held back. He said many Americans pass up the chance to go to college, so the opportunities should go to the willing.
"They should let us get the same thing they're getting," he said. "Let anyone who wants to make this place a better world."
In 1999, the Dallas Community College District became the first college in Texas, possibly in the nation, to allow illegal immigrants to pay the same tuition as residents.
District Trustee Diana Flores said she and other board members believed that it would only be fair to offer illegal immigrants the same rate as everyone else if they meet the same requirement of living in the district for at least a year.
"Our view was that they're going through the public school system anyway and it's a tragedy for them not to be able to go on to higher education if that's what they wanted," she said. "We saw them as taxpayers, and we felt that they should be treated in the same way as people who were born here."
A study released by the Pew Hispanic Center in June found that illegal-immigrant families earn about $20,000 less than American families and that poverty rates are higher among illegal-immigrant children than adults. Thirty percent of U.S. citizens have bachelor's degrees, compared with 15 percent of illegal immigrants.
Some hope that increasing access to education will improve those numbers, and there's a push to make federal financial aid for college available to illegal immigrants.
Melissa Lazarin, an education-policy analyst for the National Council of La Raza, said her organization is working to reintroduce a bill in Congress that would make federal financial aid for college available to illegal immigrants.
The bill stalled in the last session of Congress, but Lazarin said she has higher hopes this time.
"We have another 15 or 16 states that have been trying to pass similar legislation. ... This is popping up all over and not just in quote-unquote Latino states," Lazarin said. "I think it's becoming very clear to Congress that this is something that does need to be addressed."
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, has filed a similar bill and said students shouldn't be punished for being brought here illegally by their parents or guardians when they were young.
"It creates additional talent here in the United States, an additional employment base," she said. "It is an investment that hopefully will turn around real results."
CHART: ENROLLMENT OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS; STAR-TELEGRAM DAVE SEYMOUR
Patrick McGee, (817) 548-5476 pmcgee@star-telegram.com
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