New Hampshire lawmakers in the House held a hearing today for a bill that would restrict access to adult education programs in the state. Senate Bill 525 narrowly cleared the Senate.
A crowd of dozens showed up in opposition to the bill and a larger hearing room was needed to accommodate them.
The bill would add language to statutes governing adult education programs, making them available only to legal residents of New Hampshire.
Stakeholders in the adult education field worry this bill would bar refugees and those on a path to citizenship from taking English and other basic courses, which often fall under the purview of adult education.
Sen. Andy Sanborn, the bill's prime sponsor, says the bill is not aimed at these immigrant groups and is focused on restricting job training to those who are eligible to work in the U.S. “This bill is specifically not designed to prohibit anyone who is legally in America: If you have a green card you should have the availability for job training, if you are a refugee, you should have the ability for job training,” Sanborn said.
But Sen. David Watters and others contend the bill's use of the term "legal resident" is overly broad and problematic. “That’s not a term that appears in state statute or federal statute, so it would create a host of problems about how to document that,” Watters said.
At the hearing, Sanborn suggested an amendment clarifying the terminology to limit these programs to “legal residents of the state of New Hampshire who are eligible to work in the United States.”
Rep. James McConnell said he was in strong support of the bill. McConnell said he’s in favor of legal immigrants learning English. “But, the fact is that if you’re here illegally, quite frankly -- and to be very blunt -- I don’t want them here at all and I certainly don’t want to spend any money on them.” McConnell said.
Sen. Dan Feltes spoke in opposition to the bill today, which he says has become a political issue.
“This is just truly a terrible bill and it’s an invented political issue,” Feltes said. “Hopefully the legislature will reject this and get back to focusing on real problems.”
