Two recent news reports remind us of California State University, Fresno’s commitment to a university climate of diversity and our obligation to ensure access and opportunity for all to participate in education and university life.
The news reports center on the state Supreme Court decision upholding a law to allow undocumented immigrants to pay in-state fees at public colleges and the immigration status of Pedro Ramirez, president of Associated Students, Inc.
The state Supreme Court upheld Assembly Bill 540, a statute that allows students who have attended a California high school for three years to pay in-state tuition. The court ruled that the high school attendance requirement does not involve residency, and therefore does not violate the federal immigration laws. Under AB 540, enacted eight years ago, the CSU charges in-state tuition to undocumented students who meet the requirement.
Pedro Ramirez, who was born in Mexico and brought to the Valley as a child by his parents, is one such student. He filed the appropriate AB 540 paperwork when he applied for admission to Fresno State. ASI requirements do not address immigration status, so Mr. Ramirez was not prohibited from running for ASI office.
Soon after his election, he personally notified me and ASI advisers about his immigration status, and volunteered to serve without pay as president, since his status does not allow him to receive a paycheck.
I commend Mr. Ramirez and other AB 540 students who are following state statute as they seek higher education.
I hope our campus and community will remember that diverse colleges and universities better prepare students for the diverse workplace of the future.
Boetica • Nov 20, 2010 at 5:01 am
I would like to hear the whole story of Pedro Ramirez. Were his parents beneficiaries of amnesty from 1986, or are they also in the country illegally? If so, it is the perfect example of why amnesties don’t work. The State of California is $25 billion in debt and it is reported that at least $4 billion dollars of this debt are the result of illegal aliens. They use MUCH more in services than they pay in taxes (those that actually pay taxes). I work hard too, but no one is paying my bills.
Anonymous • Nov 19, 2010 at 1:34 am
To all of the comments about undocumented immigrants all I have to say
is if you are so concerned about their presence in this country,
first, you should ask yourself, where did my parents or perhaps
grandparents came from? Second, if you were so concerned about having
undocumented immigrants in the US you should be doing something about
it. For example, either work as a US Border Patrol Officer or ICE
agent, and if you really want to go to the extreme you should stop
eating at fast food restaurants, stop consuming fruits and veggies,
even perhaps stop consuming products produce with the enslaved labor
of undocumented immigrants. It is very easy to talk but not that easy
to act. I respect your opinion because we all have a right to it
thanks to our Constitution, but as mature adults and educated
individuals please make an effort to sound more like it.
Miguel Camacho • Nov 18, 2010 at 6:18 pm
To all of the comments about undocumented immigrants all I have to say is if you are so concerned about their presence in this country, first, you should ask yourself, where did my parents or perhaps grandparents came from? Second, if you were so concerned about having undocumented immigrants in the US you should be doing something about it. For example, either work as a US Border Patrol Officer or ICE agent, and if you really want to go to the extreme you should stop eating at fast food restaurants, stop consuming fruits and veggies, even perhaps stop consuming products produce with the enslaved labor of undocumented immigrants. It is very easy to talk but not that easy to act. I respect your opinion because we all have a right to it thanks to our Constitution, but as mature adults and educated individuals please make an effort to sound more like it.
Miguel Camacho • Nov 18, 2010 at 6:18 pm
To all of the comments about undocumented immigrants all I have to say is if you are so concerned about their presence in this country, first, you should ask yourself, where did my parents or perhaps grandparents came from? Second, if you were so concerned about having undocumented immigrants in the US you should be doing something about it. For example, either work as a US Border Patrol Officer or ICE agent, and if you really want to go to the extreme you should stop eating at fast food restaurants, stop consuming fruits and veggies, even perhaps stop consuming products produce with the enslaved labor of undocumented immigrants. It is very easy to talk but not that easy to act. I respect your opinion because we all have a right to it thanks to our Constitution, but as mature adults and educated individuals please make an effort to sound more like it.
the world • Nov 18, 2010 at 3:42 pm
I think we should be happy these young people want to go to school. We do not want to watch tv and be with a bunch of movie stars trying to save the world in a tv show..we all came from other countries…Remember…
NurseCSUFresno • Nov 18, 2010 at 12:06 am
This is kind of comical if you really think about it. Almost as if it is some kind of soap opera. First, off I would have to say that ASI President Ramirez, must be a complete genius or a complete idiot. You can be the judge of which you prefer to label his motives. But anybody can tell that this entire puzzle of events was orchestrated by the ASI Presidents and perhaps his counterparts. The comical part is thanks to his part like this is the basis of his own tabloid TV show. An example of this would be like Celebrities admitting they are a certain gender or their sexual preference or some type of good PR scam on his behalf. Well, if that is what he wanted to do is to expose himself then I guess it worked. It got the attention of the campus community and others. When I think of this entire PR scam on his behalf for the Dream ACT that he is a supporter of. Bret Favre comes to mind the NFL football player jerking around with the media leaving them to guess if he is going to retire or not then make a big splash to gain the exposure to enhance his attention. President Ramirez is guilty of enhancing his own self image like he is expecting some pity or wants to be labeled, “As a victim of Society.” Maybe he did threaten a student but as mentioned in the other post let the FPD handle the situation. That person that put the President on blast is not any better than the same person that President Ramirez used to vouch for in support of the Dream Act Governor Elect Jerry Brown. I am not afraid to say that I am a proud member to the Tea Party so is my mother and father were both immigrants from Spain. They did not need any short cuts my father served 25 years in the US Army and retired a decent wage earner as a Fresno City Bus Driver. The same went for my mother she retired 30 year as a Nurse. But they along with other immigrants went through the entire process. Pedro and the other illegal immigrants are no better than the people that are going through the process. It was mentioned that the President came here when he was 3, the question you have to ask, “Couldn’t the President changed his status from his child hood until now.” That is something that would go through the mind of any person. By now their are far too many of these, “Sad Love Songs” of immigrants wanting this and wanting that. The Dream Act will just put another strain on a already depleted fiscal strapped University system. President Ramirez, has his mind set on his own personal agenda the Dream Act but I would say that it is an abuse of power at the expense of the office of ASI which he is supposed to represent the student body not his own views using the resources of the University at his will. President Welty, had to come out with a statement to Snowball people and too have some good PR. Whether President Ramirez, has violated the law or not you let him deal with the ramifications if any are posed on him.
Anonymous • Nov 20, 2010 at 6:04 am
I agree. It’s a slap in the face to legal immigrants.
Deport Him • Nov 17, 2010 at 10:51 pm
There’s only one thing you should have done Mr. President. Called ICE because he’s breaking the law. Are we not obligated to report criminal activity when we see it, or are you above the law in your Ivory Tower.
JMR90 • Nov 17, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Thank you, President Welty, for this thoughtful statement. Pedro is clearly a bright young man who is poised to contribute so much to this country. The DREAM Act would uphold our values of education and hard work and let young people like Pedro who’ve grown up here fully participate and contribute to society.
OC Civilian • Nov 17, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Is this a news article, or is it an op-ed?
“Opposite editorial” pieces should appear next to the editor’s editorial(s), and are features that deserve a hyperlink on the home (front) page of the paper.
By appearing in op-ed, your readers would be clear of President Welty’s authorship, and that column presents his considered opinion.
The fact that your president wrote a letter for public consumption is newsworthy in of itself, and a column with biographical information and perhaps an interview with him could appear in the news section.
The above article is confusing as there is no story, as in Who What When Where and Why. It may be editorial, but then who authored it?
The weighty subject and the gravitas of the author deserve a more formal and respectful treatment if your readership is to get anything out of it. If the president just wanted to ‘make a statement’ on this subject; you should have convinced him to write an op-ed piece himself, or to grant enough face time for a significant interview worthy of the topic.
I am otherwise extremely impressed by the way you are presenting difficult and controversial issues.
After reading your paper (website), I realized that the “Students Without a Country” issue makes the recent election seem like a trifle.
Fresno State Student • Nov 17, 2010 at 11:01 pm
OC Civilian,
I believe this is a press release by Dr Welty in response to the stories about ASI President Ramirez in the last 24 hours not so much an editorial piece.
Anonymous • Nov 17, 2010 at 10:13 pm
FIGHT BACK AGAINST THE DREAM ACT–ANOTHER DE-FACTO AMNESTY
Time to deliver your ultimatum to the Liberal Democrats, that any underhand form of Amnesty will not be tolerated. The Dream Act is an Amnesty disguised by the progressives that need to be fully understood by all Americans? Once passed and students are naturalized, they can then begin sponsorship of their immediate families. Then in their turn family members who are legitimized by this process can start sponsoring their family members and the vicious cycle will be repeated-over and over again. Needless to say the cost to taxpayers will be as proportionate as another war like Iraq or Afghanistan, costing an estimated $2.6 Trillion dollars ( According to the Heritage Foundation), as an append on to the 13 plus trillion dollar of the US deficit. To repeat “Chain Migration” refers to the unceasing and often-snowballing chains of foreign nationals who are allowed to immigrate as the law allows citizens and lawful permanent residents to bring in their extensive, non-nuclear family members.
This Chain Migration is the principal mechanism that has caused legal immigration in this country to quadruple from about 250,000 per year in the 1950s and 1960s to over one million a year since 1990. This isn’t counting the 1.5 million immigrants who arrive here, through legal channels annually. Eventually the people sponsored will end up on the taxpayer’s welfare and entitlements program, which happened after the 1986–AMNESTY. As such, it is one of the chief menaces in America’s current record-breaking population boom and the entire attendant sprawl, congestion, school overcrowding, dwindling energy supplies and other impacts that reduce American’s quality of life. This type of immigration is very dangerous to our society as the US population is beginning to see the light, from the costs brought to them in higher taxes from catering to the illegal alien inhabitants by Liberal zealots.
Anybody who believes we can afford this immigration nightmare needs to see a psychiatrist while we are in a massive recession. You cannot trust the Liberal Press or far left wing Liberals that includes Senator Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer, Nancy Pelosi, Janet Napolitano and Socialist Czars in the Obama administration that offer a population figures of 12 million aliens who have illegally migrated here, needs to be certified? DO SOMETHING TO HELP YOUR FELLOW TAXPAYING CITIZEN OR RESIDENT, OR THE IRS WILL BE LOOKING FOR YOU TO PAY FOR THE NEXT AMNESTY. THIS IS ANOTHER SPENDING SPREE COMPLIMENTS OF THE LIBERALS. Lawmakers cannot even tell the truth about funding Sanctuary Cities across the country. Even the courts have been infiltrated by left progressives, who are taking away the rights of States.These corrupted legislators will not even tell you the real costs, for settling instant-citizenship infants (Anchor Babies?) Here is the last chance to harass your Senator or Representative by phoning (202)224-3121. Challenge them to stop the Left wing zealots for planting another Amnesty in America called the DREAM ACT. Google””Want facts, not lies, go to http://www.numbersusa.com (Free Faxing Washington) website for the truth and learn about the corruption hidden from view at http://www.judicialwatch.org
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Anonymous • Nov 17, 2010 at 9:44 pm
You commend Pedro? Really? Commend? Shame on you.
I guess it’s our fault that we have done NOTHING to stop this. We just sat by and watched our land be raped by illegals. Now we can enjoy the fruits of our labor.
Viva National Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán!
Anonymous • Nov 20, 2010 at 6:03 am
Oh yah, mythical Aztlán……….