California Assembly OKs College Aid For Illegal Immigrants
SACRAMENTO (CBS / AP) -- College students who entered the country illegally appear closer than ever to receiving financial aid in California.
On a party-line vote of 51-21, the state Assembly approved a bill Thursday that allows those students to collect privately-funded college scholarships.
Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, a Democrat from Los Angeles and the author of AB130, has introduced a similar bill every year since 2005. Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, vetoed the legislation repeatedly, but Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown made a campaign pledge to sign it.
Dozens of Democrats in the Assembly spoke in support of the bill, arguing that students should not be punished because their parents brought them into the country illegally. They said immigrant labor makes comfortable, middle-class standards of living possible and that California should reward skilled and educated immigrants.
"Undocumented immigrants, in fact, do have rights, and it's a lie that they don't," Cedillo said.
He named his bill the California Dream Act, but unlike the federal Dream Act, it does not include a path to citizenship.
The bill affects students who are in the country illegally but paying in-state tuition. It allows them to collect college scholarships that are not funded by public dollars. Another bill by Cedillo, still in committee, would make those students eligible for state-funded financial aid.
Illegal immigrants in three other states already have access to financial aid, according to Cedillo's office. His bill now heads to the Senate.
Republicans said the legislation diverts resources from citizens and invites illegal immigration.
"If I were a father in a war-torn country to the south of us, and I couldn't feed my children, and I had no way to pay for their education, I'd be tempted to come here," said Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks. He founded the state's largest chapter of the Minuteman Project, which privately patrols the border for illegal immigrants.
Another opponent, Assemblyman Chris Norby, R-Fullerton, said the bill is pointless because after illegal immigrants receive their college diplomas, companies can't hire them. He referenced the federal Dream Act, which Congress failed to pass last year.
"And until it does, this bill is like a coach on a team saying, 'Yeah, I'll make you practice, you'll do the wind sprints, you'll go through all the drills, but I can't legally let you in the game. And if I do, I'll be punished,'" Norby said.
Cedillo returned to that analogy, saying employers will be able to act with certainty once comprehensive immigration reform is achieved.
"Shouldn't we be prepared for that moment?" he said.
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