Part of the spin for the in-state tuition folks is that the illegal aliens benefiting from this taxpayer subsidy have to be “pursuing citizenship”; Google and you get more than 1 million responses because too many reporters have simply regurgitated this talking point. I described that provision as “meaningless chaff” the other day, but it’s worse than that. In fact, upon reading the provision of the Texas law, it turns out this claim is actually a remarkable combination of not one, not two, but three lies.

The Texas measure (like the new Rhode Island equivalent) requires the following: “an affidavit stating that the person will apply to become a permanent resident of the United States as soon as the person becomes eligible to apply.” So, the “citizenship” stuff is lie #1, a PR gimmick to fool the rubes who are gullible enough to actually think people promoting this scam actually respect American citizenship. The second lie is the implication that the person is “applying,” i.e., actually engaged in the process and simply awaiting the outcome. And finally, the affidavit itself has no meaning whatsoever, because there’s simply no prospect the illegal aliens will be eligible to apply for a green card, and there is no likelihood whatsoever that they would be sued if they didn’t apply for some future amnesty, years after they leave school.

None of this affects, one way or thew other, the question of whether these young people should be amnestied, which is the real heart of the issue. But when politicians defending this policy pack so many lies into such little space, it’s hard to trust their good faith.