Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
California DREAM Network
MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 27, 2011
Contacts: Jorge-Mario Cabrera, CHIRLA, (562) 243-5559, Justino Mora, CDN, (626) 343-0458
Part 1 of the California DREAM Act has been signed; it’s time for Part 2 to move forward.
WHAT: California student networks, immigrant students, families, and their allies will hold a joint press event to announce next steps in efforts to move part two of the California DREAM Act (AB131) out of the Senate and unto Governor Brown’s desk.
WHEN: Thursday, July 28, 2011, 10:00 a.m.
WHERE: Marco Antonio Firebaugh High School, 5246 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Lynwood
WHO: California Dream Team Alliance( CADTA), California Dream Network (CDN, a project of CHIRLA), community organizations, faith based leaders and community members
WHY: On Monday, Governor Jerry Brown signed the slimmer portion of the California Dream Act into law. Undocumented students are thankful that AB130 will be enacted into law. Now the work continues to move the more substantial portion of the CA Dream Act, AB131, out of ‘suspense’ in the Appropriations Committee and sent over to the Senate floor and then to the Governor’s desk.
Assemblymember Firebaugh authored AB540, which allowed many undocumented youth to pay in-state tuition as opposed to the extremely high out of state and international fees. Students and community members will remind the state of California and its legislators that we must continue Marco Antonio Firebaugh's legacy of supporting equal access to education by passing AB131.
AB131 will have the greater impact for undocumented students in their educational journeys as it would provide state financial aid to undocumented students. Currently, undocumented students are not eligible for any state or federal financial aid making financing their education nearly impossible. California has already invested in these students’ K-12 education and will see a return in that investment by preparing and assisting financially a future educated workforce. Full passage of the CA Dream Act will be an investment in California’s future.
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