It has to do with the difference between being a USA citizen, and being a citizen of the State of Texas. after all, Texas is a “whole other Country”.

These kids that were raised in Texas “through no fault of their own” as Gov Perry says, are the next door neighbor kid, the kid in the Church choir, the player on the school football team, or the trumpet player in the school band. … They are your neighbor. In Texas, that makes a very big difference. while you might have wanted them to have been PREVENTED from being there to begin with via effective Federal Law enforcement, the fact is that it didn’t happen somehow and not only that, the feds actively OPPOSE the States from assisting in that effort, so, OK, now you have kids who may not be US Citizens, but they are TEXANS. That’s why the people of Texas have granted them in state tuition. Because they are Texans to the people of Texas. [E.A.]

I’m NOT a Texan, because I’m a Californian. And certainly, it is unlikely that Pennsylvanians (like Rick Santorum) would feel the same way about the kids of illegals who grew up there. No doubt. But, whether anybody likes what Texas does or not, Texas has LONG been a “whole other country” in their own hearts and minds. I lived there for about 9 years. that’s how i know. Actually, after awhile … you begin to feel how they feel …