State aid for illegals gets more expensive and more insulting (Opinion)

Just when you thought citizenship in New Jersey couldn't matter any less.

Now we get the grim news that Gov. Murphy miscalculated just how much it's going to cost to treat illegals to state financial aid. Initially we were told including illegal immigrants in New Jersey's Tuition Aid Grants program would cost an extra $4.5 million. That's because they estimated it on post-2014 numbers of an estimated 600 undocumented students qualifying for in-state tuition rates. They were wrong. Turns out the Legislature received numbers from four-year schools in the past few weeks showing at least 670 such students enrolled. That difference alone adds over half a million more to the cost of allowing illegals to receive financial aid. That's more than a 10% miscalculation.

It gets worse.

Those student numbers are sure to be much higher because they never bothered calculating Rowan or William Paterson universities, and they didn't look at private colleges. Just how expensive will this outlandish scheme to treat illegals the same as citizens get? No one seems to be sure.

The only thing certain is how treating illegals like citizens puts actual citizens on the outs in their own country. The only two ways financial aid for illegals could have worked is A) they kept the pool of money the same while growing the number of applicants by allowing the undocumented meaning more citizens would be squeezed out of the program or B) they increased the pool of money, which is what they're doing, but allow illegals access to it instead of increasing the number of citizens who could have been helped. In other words, if they could afford to add millions of tax dollars to the program why didn't they do it for citizens only and loosen up the family income restrictions a bit? Instead they are hellbent on helping illegals while citizens are marginalized.

It was bad enough under the Christie administration when in-state tuition was offered to an illegal living in Trenton but a United States citizen living across the river in Fairless Hills, PA pays out of state tuition. Is there such a thing as out-of-the-country-not-even-here-legally tuition? Yes, I suppose it's called in-state tuition.

Now we have Taxman Murphy promising a sanctuary state and racing to churches where illegals are hiding with the urgency he should be giving to the property tax and school funding crisis. We have his administration sneaking things into the state budget to give $2.1 million to pay for the legal fees of illegal immigrants fighting deportation.

Is all of this white, rich man guilt? Is this a long-term progressive vision he has for America with eyes already set on higher office? All I know for certain is it's a slap in the face to every natural born citizen and every immigrant who came here the legal way, worked hard and followed the law. Murphy's actions are devaluing citizenship and rendering it absolutely meaningless. If citizenship means nothing, the country itself means less. I refuse to walk that path.

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