Every now and then I tweak Maryland state legislative Del. Mike Smigiel, by all accounts a fine fellow, and a veteran who is also a hard right Republican prone to what I consider demagoguery and his own brand of quixotic litigation.
He's been blogging a lot that isn't true about the Maryland Dream Act lately, but this, referencing a Maryland Attorney General opinion, takes the cake....
The legal opinion contains several startling revelations which should not go unnoticed. One talking point being reiterated by CASA and other supporters of the in-State tuition for illegal aliens is that the illegal alien had to be a graduate of a Maryland High School and then apply to a community college in that County. Yet, the Attorney General Opinion, on page 1, last line, indicates the illegal only has to have obtained a GED after having attended an in State High School.
Arguably, a person can illegally come to the U.S. head for the sanctuary of Maryland, enroll in a local High School be there a week or less, drop out take the GED and then have the Maryland taxpayers subsidize their college education. This clearly is not the scenario being painted by the supporters of educating at taxpayer expense those illegally in this country.
I'm posting my response here because the comment I submitted to his blog is lost in cypberspace....
Del. Smigiel–
You almost had me there, but you can’t hide that smile on your face.
For a minute I believed you really did think a student could “illegally come to the U.S. head for the sanctuary of Maryland, enroll in a local High School be there a week or less, drop out take the GED and then have the Maryland taxpayers subsidize their college education,” as you said.
But then I remembered you’re a legislator and a lawyer. Surely you know how to read the law (or at least what will be the law for the next eight days before it goes into referendum limbo.) [Update: The petition drive was successful and the law is suspended, pending a 2012 referendum.]
You know that the seven conditions under Education Art. 15-106.8(B), as shown in the Attorney General’s opinion and the chapter law, are inclusive, so you know that every qualifying student has to fulfill all seven conditions, starting with a minimum of three years of attendance at a Maryland high school. You’re kidding when you say a student can avoid the three year high school attendance requirement by earning a GED, aren’t you? You know the law does not allow any student to avoid any of the seven conditions, starting with attending a Maryland high school for at least three years, don’t you?
I’ll play my part by indulging your jest and dutifully correcting you (pretending I don’t know you’re just kidding). To qualify, I’ll point out, a student first has to attend a Maryland high school for three years, per 15-106.8(B)1, and then either graduate or obtain a GED, per 15-106.8(B)2, enroll in community college, prove his or her parents or guardian filed tax returns over the three-year period of high school attendance and continuing every year after that, promise to seek permanent resident status when eligible, and register for the U.S. selective service system. But you’re a legislator and a lawyer, so you know that.
But I’ll play along and pretend you didn’t know that, and you really believed what you blogged above–to lull liberals like me into thinking you’re not half as smart as you really are.
- Steve Lebowitz, Annapolis
DISCLOSURE: My wife works for Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler. She had nothing to do with the opinion referenced in this post.