Legislature in
California Set to Pass a Dream Act
Published: August 31, 2011 - New York Times
LOS ANGELES — The California Legislature is poised to pass a law that would
allow illegal immigrants to receive state-financed aid for college. Known as the
California Dream Act, the bill underscores the ways states are navigating their
own way through controversial immigration
issues, as the Obama administration has been unable to make headway on plans for
an overhaul of immigration laws.
While the state law would do nothing to provide a path to citizenship for
illegal immigrants, it would provide them with more education benefits than they
have in any other state. Advocates of the legislation say it would also send a
powerful message to President Obama and Congress, forcing them to reconcile a
patchwork of state laws that contradict one another.
Gov. Jerry
Brown, a Democrat, said during his campaign last fall that he would support
such a law and signed
legislation this summer that gave illegal immigrants access to privately
financed state scholarships and other aid. While he has not publicly said that
he would sign this second measure, Mr. Brown’s staff members have been working
with legislators to amend the bill in order to trim some costs.
The Democratic-controlled Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill on
Wednesday along a party-line vote. The amended bill is expected to pass the
Democratic-controlled State Assembly in the next week.
Assemblyman Gil Cedillo of Los Angeles, the lead author of the bill, has
persistently made an economic argument to convince his colleagues.
“We will soon have to replace one million workers who leave the work force,”
Mr. Cedillo said. “Why would we cut ourselves off from students who have
demonstrated since they got here that they have tremendous talent and
resilience? This is a very smart decision for the state. It’s not necessarily
popular or without controversy, but we have to get these students fully
educated.”
The bill is particularly controversial at a time when the state is facing
major budget problems and drastically cutting spending on higher education.
The legislation is expected to cost about $40 million, according to an
analysis by the State Senate, about 1 percent of the state’s total $3.5 billion
budget for college financial aid.
Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, a Republican who represents San Bernardino, said
that he would try to organize a ballot referendum to overturn the legislation.
“The governor is coming to the folks and saying they need to pay more, and
then he’s going to turn around and say we still have money to hand over to
people who are in the country illegally,” Mr. Donnelly said. “That is absolutely
wrong. We are saying to the world: ‘If you haven’t come to California yet
illegally, come as soon you can.’ And we’re saying to the people who came
legally: ‘You guys are idiots.’ ”
The law would allow illegal immigrants and out-of-state students who attended
California high schools for three years or more to apply for the financial aid.
In 2001, the state passed a law allowing those same students to be eligible
for in-state tuition. The University of California, California State University
and community
college systems now enroll roughly 40,000 such students, about 1 percent of
the total enrollment.
Because they lack work visas, many of those students are still unable to
secure jobs for which they may be qualified. Opponents of the state Dream Act
argue that such legislation would only increase the number of college graduates
without jobs.
But supporters contend that many students may get legal status while they are
in school, because they have already applied for legal residency or citizenship,
a process that can take decades. And they are holding out hope that the Obama
administration and Congress will approve the federal Dream Act, which would give
students who have graduated from college or served in the military a path to
citizenship.
Ana Gomez, whose parents brought her from Mexico to the United States when
she was 7 years old, graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles,
in 2009 and said she was among the few in her group of friends who did not have
to spend semesters away from campus to make more money to pay for tuition. Most
of them relied on odd jobs that paid cash because they did not have work
permits.
“People are really struggling to stay and make it through,” Ms. Gomez said.
“Being able to attend and get in-state tuition is one thing, but then you have
to find a way to pay for it, and it’s next to impossible. A lot of kids just get
stuck in community college. This changes all of that.”
The legislation that Mr. Brown signed in July allowed illegal immigrants to
apply for a pool of $80 million in state scholarships that are financed through
private sources. The bill that passed Wednesday would allow them to also gain
access to $40 million in grants and scholarships that are paid for by the state.
Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform,
which sued the state to overturn the law granting illegal immigrants in-state
tuition, called the bill “a really stupid allocation of limited resources.”
“It certainly ranks up there as one of the most dramatic moves, but I leave
it up the California Legislature to outdo themselves,” Mr. Mehlman said.
He added, “In every way possible the state is catering to illegal aliens even
if it comes at the cost of other legal citizens.”
Although there has been vocal opposition to the bill, it has benefited from
widespread support; the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, university presidents
and agricultural leaders have all backed the legislation.
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed similar legislation three times
while he was in office.
Public opinion on illegal immigrants has shifted sharply in the state over
the last several years, said Dan Schnur, the director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics
at the University of Southern California.
“Five years ago, this was politically risky,” Mr. Schnur said. “Fifteen or 20
years ago, it would have been political suicide. But today, it is hard to see it
having much of a political impact one way or another here.”