Board of Regents discuss immigrants’ student status

Members of the Board of Regents will visit Dalton today to discuss the effects of a new law on immigrants’ student status at state schools.
The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act of 2006 goes into effect July first. The bill is meant to crack down on illegal and undocumented immigrants.
According to the Board of Regents’ lawyers, the bill also prevents any Georgia resident without documented legal status from receiving in-state tuition. This means for many students college tuition could triple, even if they graduated from a Georgia high school.
The Board of Regents has scheduled four forums in areas with large Latino populations to address concerns about the changes and to take public comments. In addition to today’s meeting in Dalton, forums will be held in Clarkston, Tifton and Gainesville.