Baltimore County Leads the Effort to Defeat the DREAM Act

Baltimore County collected more signatures than any county in the state in support of a referendum that would decide whether illegal immigrants get in-state tuition breaks at state colleges.

The DREAM Act, which provided for such tuition breaks, was passed by the General Assembly in its most recent session but implementation has been delayed in the face of opposition.

Opponents want voters to decide in a 2012 election and Baltimore County led the signature drive for that referendum, according to state election figures released Thursday.

In all, 63,113 signatures were validated by the state Board of Elections,  more than the approximately 55,736 needed for the referendum. Of those validated signatures, 14,025 came from Baltimore County. The next closest county was Harford County at 7,355.

“Now comes the long campaign where the DREAM Act is the candidate,” said Del. Pat McDonough, a Middle River Republican and among those that led the petition drive. “The amount of signatures we collected show this is not an issue that voters favor and now they will have a chance to express that.”

The DREAM Act was one of the most controversial bills passed during the recently completed General Assembly session. The bill passed the House of Delegates by a 74-65 margin and by a 27-20 margin in the Maryland Senate. It was due to go into effect July 1, but getting the issue placed on the ballot has it delayed by at least a year.

According to the state elections board, the local boards have until July 20 to finish counting the signatures while the signatures must be certified by July 22

Opponents of the bill said it is wrong—and more importantly, illegal—for Maryland to join 11 other states in offering in-state tuition to students regardless of their immigration status.

Maryland’s new law would have allowed illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition rates at state four-year schools after attending a community college for two years, provided they or a guardian have filed taxes in Maryland and apply for permanent residency.

McDonough said legislative projections that the legislation would cost the state $800,000 in the first year and up to $3.5 million by 2016 vastly underestmate the cost to Maryland.

“All across the state – both Democrats and Republicans – have echoed two overriding points,” McDonough said. “One, what part of ‘illegal’ in illegal immigrant do supporters of the DREAM Act not understand?Two, why should my tax dollars be going to help offset costs to those who are in this country illegally?”

Some proponents of the DREAM Act may challenge the validity of the signatures and could plan legal action. Among those against the petition effort is the American Civil Liberties Union which questions whether signatures gathered online at mdpetitions.com are legal.

“Online systems for signature gathering in support of a petition drive are new to Maryland, and raise serious questions about whether election officials can meaningfully scrutinize the authenticity of signatures, verify each signer’s intent, and investigate possible acts of fraud,” said Deborah Jeon, Legal Director for the ACLU of Maryland in a statement last month.