A Republican state representative has proposed a bill to repeal a law that allows some illegal immigrants to receive in-state college tuition rates.

Illegal immigrants who graduate after attending at least three years of high school in Utah may qualify for the lower in-state tuition costs that residents receive at state universities.

But state Rep. Carl Wimmer, a Herriman Republican, said House Bill 191 would ban state colleges and universities from providing in-state tuition to illegal immigrants.

“One should not benefit from the fruits of an illegal behavior,” Wimmer said. “I want to protect the citizens and the taxpayers.”

Most people in Utah oppose illegal immigration, he said.

“It comes down to the fact that Utah citizens are funding a behavior that they disagree with,” Wimmer said.

Past attempts by state lawmakers to repeal the law have fizzled. But Wimmer said he believes the Legislature will support his bill this year.

“It’s come within one vote in the past and I think we have those votes now,” Wimmer said.

He predicted that a group of new conservatives in the Legislature will support his bill.

“There is a different makeup of the body,” Wimmer said. “I anticipate that we can get it through this year.”

He said his legislation would not ban illegal immigrants from attending state universities.

“In no way, shape or form does it stop the students from attending college,” Wimmer said. “We are going to allow them to continue going to school in the state. But if you’re going to go to college here, you’re going to pay full tuition.”

If the law is repealed its supporters claim the high-school and college dropout rates for immigrant students would increase.

“This would be devastating to what we do We have a lot of students who are going to college who are not documented,” said Nora Buchanan, Latino outreach counselor for the Park City School District. “They are truly American kids. These are kids who have come here when they were 2 or 3 years old.”

Kamas Republican David Ure sponsored the original bill that allowed illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition when he was a member of the state House of Representatives nearly a decade ago. Since then he has fought attempts on Capitol Hill to repeal the law.

Ure, now a Summit County councilman, pledged to oppose Wimmer’s H.B. 191.

“I wish people weren’t so shortsighted in doing what’s really right for the state of Utah and America,” Ure said. “This country did not flourish from idiots. It flourished because of educated people.”

According to H.B. 191, there are about 640 non-citizen students enrolled in state institutions of higher learning.

These students generate about $2.3 million in resident tuition, according to the legislation.

“To the extent that non-citizen students continue enrollment and pay nonresident tuition rates, institutions could collect up to $7.8 million in nonresident tuition, an increase of up to $5.5 million per year,” the bill states.

According to state Rep. Mel Brown, “that is a lot of money.”

Brown, a Hoytsville Republican who serves Park City, said he has not decided how he would vote on H.B. 191.

“When economic times are good and there is a need, it’s a lot easier to say that we can help out with that,” Brown said. “When times are tight there is no question that there needs to be prioritization.”

Brown said he has opposed past attempts by lawmakers to repeal the tuition law.

Rep. Joel Briscoe, D-Salt Lake City, represents a chunk of the Snyderville Basin.

Briscoe said he would vote against H.B. 191.

“These students did not come over to defraud the United States. They came because their parents came,” Briscoe said. “I think they are showing good faith by going to school and doing well in high school. Requiring them to pay out-of-state tuition would effectively prevent many of them from continuing their education.”