A Lincoln-area high school graduate who's also an illegal immigrant must pay as much as a Californian or New Englander to attend Nebraska's flagship university  located right down the street.

A bill before the Legislature seeks to change that, offering the children of illegal immigrants the same in-state tuition already extended to the rest of Nebraska's prospective students. Session '05

Passage of the bill would knock down an educational hurdle for illegal immigrants, end the state's punishment of children who didn't choose to move here illegally and help the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's sagging enrollment, says Sen. DiAnna Schimek, who introduced LB239.

It would also subvert current immigration laws and may lead to a court challenge, counter the bill's opponents.   

Both sides expect the proposed tuition change, which didn't make it out of the Legislature's Education Committee last year, to get more attention this time around.

"(Immigration reform) is cutting across party lines now," Schimek said. "It's a broad set of policies, a broad political spectrum, and I think this bill fits right in."

The state senator from Lincoln  is encouraged by recent immigration reform support from several high-profile Republican U.S. senators.

Last year, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) introduced the Federal Dream Act. That bill would allow the nation's illegal immigrants to attain legal status if they graduate high school, attend at least two years of college (or spend two years in the military) and stay out of trouble with the law.

The Senate never voted on the Dream Act, but Hatch is expected to reintroduce it this year.

Nebraska's own Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is co-sponsoring a comprehensive reform bill that immigration advocates say treats undocumented workers fairly on their path to legal status. 

Hatch's home state of Utah and seven other states, including Kansas, have already passed laws allowing high school graduates who are illegal immigrant to attend public colleges at in-state prices.

The immigration reform movement is gaining momentum because more people are recognizing the unfairness of the current system, says Ed Leahy, coordinator of the Iowa-Nebraska Immigrant Rights Network for the Nebraska Appleseed Center.

"Children never consider their status," he said. "They go to school and play with their friends.

"And then they get older and are told you don't count, you're not a part of our society.

"(The bill) just removes that barrier. It says we want them to be fully what they can be."

Schimek thinks the Legislature should support the bill on the grounds that it may help the state's educational system and economy.

She says Nebraska is losing 20-somethings with college degrees while gaining young adults who don't have college degrees.

Offering in-state tuition to the children of undocumented workers — a group that traditionally doesn't attend college — would help reverse that trend, she says.

"Not doing it is a little like cutting off our nose to spite our face," Schimek said.

The University of Nebraska has no official position on the bill, said university lobbyist Ron Withem.

The university's no-stance stance came after the bill was first introduced in 2002, and then-NU President L. Dennis Smith seemed to support it in a newspaper story.

A subsequent NU Board of Regents' motion, prompted by Regent Drew Miller of Papillion, said university leaders shouldn't take sides on the bill, in large part because the views of Nebraska residents vary widely on the subject.

Adrian Smith, a state senator from Gering, counts himself among Nebraskans who don't think illegal immigrants should receive in-state tuition.

Smith said he senses no great need for the change, and says LB239  undermines current immigration laws.

"There's already a process for becoming legal," Smith said. "While that might sometimes be a difficult situation, we need to make sure immigrants are willing to do that."

Even if the majority of the Legislature supports the idea of the bill, they may hesitate to pass it because of possible legal challenges that could follow.

A national anti-illegal immigration group is challenging a law similar to Schimek's bill in Kansas, saying it violates federal immigration laws.

And the Legislature's Education Committee worried about possible court challenges to the bill during last year's session, Schimek said.

No matter the complications, the Lincoln state senator says she'll continue to re-introduce the bill until it passes.

"It just seems to me we should treat these students the same as we treat all other students who graduate high school," she said. 

Reach Matthew Hansen at 473-7245 or mhansen@journalstar.com.