California lawmakers approve Dream Act

 Last week California legislators approved a controversial bill that would allow undocumented workers to receive state loans for college. The proposed law has been sent to Governor Jerry Brown, who is expected to sign it.

The bill, AB131 also known as the Dream Act, would allow undocumented students who are high school graduates and have attended California schools for at least three years to apply for state loans to help pay for college tuition, fees, books, and living expenses.

The proposed law passed forty-five to twenty-seven, largely along party lines in the state senate.

Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, (D - Los Angeles), who introduced the bill, argued that the legislation was necessary to keep California’s workforce competitive in a global economy. Cedillo said the state needed educated workers for the future, even those who may not have entered the country legally but have excelled in academics.

“We will need them for our future, for our position in the global economy,” he said. “We don’t have one student to spare.”

The bill comes on the heels of a similar piece of legislation that would make undocumented workers eligible for privately funded scholarships, which Governor Brown has already signed into law. Unlike the federal proposal that bears the same name, the California version of the Dream Act does not provide a path to citizenship.

Critics of the bill argue that even if the undocumented workers graduate from college, businesses will still be unable to legally hire them. Others pointed to already overcrowded schools and the lack of federal action.

“Here today we don’t have enough slots for all the students in California who want to attend our great institutions, there just aren’t enough. So until the federal government makes immigration reform a priority and tackles that, what are we doing? We’re offering false promises,” said Assemblyman Curt Hagman, (R - Chino Hills).

Meanwhile supporters of the bill say it helps to push the federal government to take action on immigration reform.

“As California sets once again the bar high for other states to follow, we commend the state’s leadership and wisdom to see beyond an immigration status and proactively integrate immigrants. Let this vote be an inspiration for the federal government to update immigration laws once and for all,” said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.

Legislative analysis estimates that the bill could cost California as much as $40 million a year. Colleges and universities do not have statistics on the number of undocumented students attend each year, but officials guess there are roughly 642 students in the University of California system without the proper documentation, 3,600 students in the California State University system, and 34,000 in community colleges.