Karl Dean in U.S. News and World Report

On Immigration: Immigrants are part of community; college tuition break ok

The Republicans at the State Collaborative on Reforming Education forum voiced opposition to offering the tuition break at state higher education institutions. "It doesn't seem fair to me that we would offer something in college tuition to an immigrant that was here illegally that we wouldn't offer to an American citizen from Georgia," businessman Bill Lee said.

The push to make that change has come up just short in the Republican-led General Assembly in recent years. Term-limited Republican Gov. Bill Haslam has backed the measure, which has wide support in polls.

Former Nashville Democratic Mayor Karl Dean likewise voiced support for the change, and responded directly to Lee's comment about Georgia, drawing a rare round of applause. "They grew up here. They went to school here. They have families here. They have friends here. And they're different than Georgians because they're Tennesseans," Dean said. "They're part of our community."

Source: U.S. News & World Report on 2018 Tennessee governor debate Jan 23, 2018

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