By: Gabriella Morrongiello
Waking up at the crack of dawn for 8am classes has never been my
forte. However, on the morning of the public hearing for the
"Tuition Equity" bill, I was out of bed before the first verse of
my alarm had even run its course. An hour later I was cruising down
I-5 toward the Oregon State Capitol. Upon arrival, I noticed I was
not the only student who would be present. Two large charter buses
had pulled up and were offloading dozens of Hispanic students. Each
bus sported a custom paint job and was adorned with worn out tried
and true phrases of the left: "students for equality," "social
justice now," "humans aren't illegal." Thirty minutes later the
majority of these students and their teachers glared at me,
jaws-dropped, as I returned back to my seat following my
testimony.
I came to the capitol to testify against Oregon House Bill 2787,
better known as "Tuition Equity." This bill proposes in-state
tuition for illegal aliens, but fails to extend the same benefit to
out-of-state American students. It is, in my opinion, anything but
equitable. With my testimony, I hoped to make some rational
Oregonians realize this was just another effort on behalf of
government officials to work against the people they are elected to
serve and instead give comfort and aid to undocumented
immigrants.
I was the ONLY student, out of the 100+ in attendance, who
testified in opposition to this bill.
The first half hour of the hearing was monopolized by the panel
of state representatives publicly addressing one another as they
glorified the bill. This obviated the purpose of a hearing for the
public. It quickly became apparent how skewed the hearing would be
after a panel in which only three of us would testify in
opposition. The 80 minutes that ensued was spent listening to
carefully orchestrated and emotionally-appealing testimonials by
supporters who clearly left their logic at the door. One Latino
student even wore her graduation gown, hoping it would somehow
convey her said crushed aspirations upon graduating high school
since she would be unable to afford college. In the hearing's last
five minutes, the representatives obligatorily rushed an
opportunity for three Oregon taxpayers to voice their disdain. How
virtuous of them.
At the end of the day, I was thankful for the opportunity to
denounce this bill. The irony of the hearing though, is what will
voraciously eat away at me over the next few weeks. How could these
representatives, who titled the legislation "Tuition Equity"
themselves, have staged a public hearing that was anything but
equal in the diversity of opinion?
Pardon my French, but Oregon must wake up and smell the bull;
House Bill 2787 assists those in this country illegally while
leaving law-abiding American citizens to pick up the tab. Now what
is equitable about that?
Gabriella Morrongiello is a sophomore at Oregon State University, and chairman of the OSU Young Americans for Freedom
