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 The move would make New Jersey the 16th U.S. state to allow
students without legal immigration status to pay in-state rates, and
comes after lengthy political wrangling between the Republican
governor and Democrats in the state legislature.
"The most important thing is for these young men and women of our
state, who we have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in
their K-12 education, we're now going to give them an opportunity in
an affordable way to be able to continue their education," Christie
said in Trenton.
"This will be once again an example of New Jersey showing how you
can come to bipartisan agreement," said Christie, who is widely
expected to seek the Republican nomination for the White House in
2016.
"Not that we agree on everything, but that we find a way of bringing
people together and come to a position that will benefit all the
people of this state," he said.
The tuition bill applies to students who have attended at least
three years of high school in New Jersey.
Christie vetoed a previous version of the bill that would have
allowed some illegal immigrant students to qualify for financial
aid, the New York Times reported.
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According to the National Immigration Law Center, 15 U.S. states
have laws permitting some undocumented students to pay in-state
tuition if they have attended and graduated from primary or
secondary schools there.
Those states are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois,
Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York,
Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington, according to the
center.
(Reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst and Dan Whitcomb;
editing by Gunna
Dickson and Ken Wills)
[© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2013 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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