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Around 30 people demonstrated December 10 at the City University of New York (CUNY) Board of Trustees' headquarters to protest the university's plans to hike tuition for students who are undocumented immigrants. Some of the signs held by students read "Stop anti-immigrant purge," "Stop racist tuition hike," "Stop CUNY's racial profiling," and "Is CUNY registrar's office a branch of the INS?"
Beginning next semester the tuition fee will rise from $1,600 per semester to $3,400 at four-year colleges. "They are targeting South Asian and Middle Eastern students and using this tuition hike to drive us out," said Tejal Ajmera, president of the Hunter College Indian and Pakistani Club.
University officials say the increase is being made to comply with the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act signed into law by the Clinton administration. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, New York state senator Frank Padavan has pressed CUNY officials to impose the increase, citing "national security" issues.
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