Rescind the BOR Ban on Undocumented Students

To the University System of Georgia Board of Regents:

We the undersigned oppose the Board of Regents’ decision to ban undocumented students from the state’s most selective universities, including the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, the Medical College of Georgia, and Georgia College and State University.

The ban represents a formal step towards the re-segregation of higher education in our state. Banishing Georgia's high school graduates to separate and unequal educational facilities tarnishes the state’s reputation, squanders talent, abets hostility towards immigrants, and makes it harder to recruit and retain top faculty and students.

The long-term economic and ethical costs of discrimination are immense. Please rescind the ban on undocumented students and do everything in your power to ensure that all Georgians have equal access to higher education. The Board of Regents should support in-state tuition for all Georgia students regardless of their immigration status. Nebraska, Texas, California and nine other states now charge in-state tuition to undocumented high school graduates and Georgia should follow their example.