The Alabama State Board of Education approved a new policy today banning illegal immigrants from the state’s two-year colleges, the Associated Press reported.
The board approved the policy by a vote of 4 to 0. One member abstained, and three others were absent. Also missing from the vote was the board’s president, Gov. Bob Riley, a Republican. The policy changes will take effect in the spring of 2009.
Two advocates for immigrants spoke out against the measure during the meeting, in Pell City, Ala. Bradley Byrne, chancellor of the state’s community-college system, proposed the change, saying Alabama taxpayers should not be asked to foot the bill to educate people who cannot legally work in the state.
The board’s action came one month after North Carolina’s State Board of Community Colleges voted to bar illegal immigrants from enrolling in the state’s 58 community colleges while it commissioned a study on the politically charged issue. —Katherine Mangan
