UC students campaigned last week to encourage 39th District State Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes to pass a bill granting undocumented students equal access to state financial aid at California public universities.
Students made calls to Fuentes, the state legislature Appropriations Committee Chair, to request his help in passing AB 131 — a legislative component of the California Dream Act — when it comes before the commission early this week. The California Dream consists of Acts AB 131 and AB 130 and aims to provide financial aid for undocumented students unable to afford college.
According to External Vice President of Statewide Affairs Office’s statewide organizing director Elysse Madarang, a third-year global studies major, UC Students Association volunteers have organized similar events to help pass the bill.
“UCSB students have lobbied at the local, state and national levels to help these assembly bills,” Madarang said. “A recent campaign done through the EVPSA Office in conjunction with the University of California Student Association was a Dream Act card campaign with which we were able to turn in over 10,000 cards to state representatives in support of the California Dream Act AB 130 and 131.”
Although an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 undocumented students graduate from California high schools each year, only an estimated five to ten percent go on to pursue higher education, Madarang said.
Madarang, who is coordinating UCSB’s campaign involvement, said the legislation would provide greater educational opportunities for qualified students.
“AB 131 would allow eligible AB 540 undocumented students access to any financial aid program run by the state of California, including student loans,” Madarang said in an e-mail. “This can help the financial burden, especially since our tuition fees are constantly rising.”
University of California President Mark Yudof issued a statement supporting the bill to encourage students’ academic efforts regardless of their immigration status.
Third-year sociology major Jordan Corey said undocumented students deserve an equal share of the state’s financial aid.
“I do not believe that U.S. citizens hold the right to turn undocumented students away who are desperately seeking an opportunity at the American dream that we were all blessed to receive,” Corey said. “If students have done the work and are eligible to be admitted, then they deserve the right to an education.”
The DREAM Act is amnesty, and that is why I was always against the DREAM Act, but, I’ll give in to the DREAM Act under two conditions. First, the parents who bought their illegal alien children here illegally MUST be deported. Second, the parents can NEVER return to this country and the student can NEVER sponsor them or any other family member that would start a chain migration. The student will start the DREAM Act as soon as the parents are deported. This, I believe, is a good compromise. The students will be rewarded for something that was not their… Read more »
hmmm… Go Fuck Yourself.
Agrees with Hmm ^
are you mental? do you not know what the difference between the California dream act and the federak dream act are??? the California dream act is not amnesty you ignorant b*** its just college financial aid -_-
How is it not amnesty? Students who are not citizens get into state schools (and are identified as non-citizens living illegally in the USA) and instead of going through the process of becoming a citizen or being deported, they are given financial aid and allowed to continue living in the US undocumented. Sounds like amnesty to me.
This is wh we need this bill, to educate students and relace the undeducated people like you. The federal dream act and the state dream act are to seperate things. This state bill does not grant legal status. As a UC student, I much rather have one of these students attend my school than a moron citizen that got picked from the wait-list and got into my school by default and not merit. Once we graduate Ill compete with them, but I am studying and working my butt off so I can get the job. If they get the job… Read more »
Man, I wish one of them would take your place.
Delaware Bob, just GTFO. Nobody likes you. Like seriously.
It is a bad bill. The government should not support illegal activites. Do you understnd, if Chineses enter Japan and ask social benefits, will Japanese government pay for Chineses? I think it is clearly no.
If the illegal students are taught correctly in the US (at least they could advance to the higher education), they should understand their parents’ mistakes and why they are belong to their motherlands.
The representative may not be eleccted by citizen. We should invest voting fraud in the last election, especially in California. They are not representing the citizen.
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