Whatever your feelings are about the idea of illegal immigrants attending community colleges, your opinion almost has to be clearer than North Carolina's policy is.

The past week has seen a dizzying number of positions and reversals on the subject.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper last week reversed his view of the issue. He told community colleges to ignore the directive he put out six months ago when he advised colleges to immediately begin admitting undocumented students.

Gov. Mike Easley, however, urged community colleges to continue enrolling illegal immigrants. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency backed Easley's position, saying there's nothing in federal law to suggest states can't do what they want on this matter.

On top of all that, there are just 112 undocumented students in the entire 58-campus community college system. That's not even two students per campus. And the ones who are there pay out-of-state tuition to attend.

So you might be inclined to wonder what all the fuss is about. It almost would be refreshing if the state had a much bigger problem – thousands of illegal immigrants banging on the doors of higher education, each eager to pay out-of-state tuition and then contribute their talents after graduation toward bettering our communities. That, at least, would make for an interesting debate.

As it stands, North Carolina lawmakers need to pick up the issue, if not this session, then certainly in 2009. Leaving the door half-open isn't helping anyone.

And the signals sent by the attorney general, the governor and others have been anything but clear.