California Governor Signs Dream Act

NEW YORK, (WAll Street Journal) By VAUHINI VARA California Governor Jerry Brown on Saturday finished signing the California Dream Act, under which California students who are undocumented immigrants will qualify for state-funded financial aid for college. The controversial bill is the highest-profile act to expand undocumented students' access to higher education after a federal Dream Act, which would have given undocumented students a path to short-term permanent residency status, failed last year to attract enough support in Congress. "The Dream Act benefits us all by giving top students a chance to improve their lives and the lives of all of us," Mr. Brown said. Under current law, undocumented students pay resident tuition rates if they have graduated from a California high school and affirmed that they are in the process of applying to legalize their immigration status. Starting January 1, 2013, those students will be eligible to apply for state-funded Cal Grants and other public aid. The legislation builds on a previous bill signed into law in July, which makes financial aid from private sources available to the same pool of students. The two laws are collectively known as the California Dream Act. The California Department of Finance estimates that 2,500 students will qualify for Cal Grants as a result of the bill, at a cost of $14.5 million. The overall Cal Grant program is funded at $1.4 billion, meaning that 1% of all Cal Grant funds will be potentially impacted. The bill's passage comes as several states have revisited their immigration laws in the wake of last year's defeat of the federal Dream Act. In Alabama, a controversial new law lets officials check the immigration status of students in public schools, which the federal government is seeking to block. Meanwhile, Illinois in August passed its own Dream Act, which gives undocumented students access to privately funded grants. But California's bill is especially significant because it is the nation's largest state and home to far more undocumented residents than any other. It is also the first bill that uses public funds to help undocumented students. "As a result of the failure of Congress to pass the Dream Act, we now have both pro-immigrant youth legislation and anti-immigrant youth legislation" that states are pursuing on their own, said Kent Wong, an immigration expert at the University of California, Los Angeles.