The folks at the Daily Princetonian have done for themselves a
stunning end-of-week editorial, exalting Princeton for admitting
students whom they scare-quotedly refer to as “illegals” and advising
that this policy not change.
The board opines that “The University is under no legal obligation
to report any applicants or students who are in the country
illegally,” but recognizes that “many would point out that at
the end of the day, the University still has an obligation to report
rather than reward students who break the law. After all, there are
thousands of qualified, law-abiding students who the University
rejects each year, and we would like to think that, for certain
crimes, the University would report a student to the proper
authorities.”
That position is not fundamentally unsound. Schools let many crimes
go: Underage drinking, drug use, copyright violation, &c. But since
universities like Princeton are in the business of providing an entire
life–housing, nourishment, vocation–for its customers, shouldn’t an
illegal presence in the United States be among the most eagerly
reported crimes for a university?