Today, Saturday, October 8th, Governor Jerry Brown kept his promise to the California electorate and signed AB131, part two of the California Dream Act.
The following is a statement from Angelica Salas, Executive Director at CHIRLA:
"A great day for California, for education, and for immigrant students who have kept their end of the bargain and continue to give their best to the only nation they know as their home.
AB131 opens a small window of opportunity to thousands of students who will continue to prove this nation that in spite of the obstacles they face, they shine like the stars they are. We are all winners with AB131.
We thank Gov. Brown for his signature and we urge him to continue to exercise leadership, courage, and wisdom on behalf of immigrants nationwide. California can be the firewall to so much anti-immigrant legislation and attitudes and our Governor can be the beacon of hope in the West Coast. We also thank Assemblyman Gil Cedillo for his tireless efforts on behalf of all Californians."
Assemblymember Cedillo stated, “I first want to express my gratitude to Governor Brown who has today given hope and opportunity to thousands of current and future students and their families by signing Assembly Bill 131. The signing of now both parts of the California Dream Act will send a message across the country that California is prepared to lead the country with a positive and productive vision for how we approach challenging issues related to immigration.”
The California Dream Act was introduced by Cedillo as two bills in January of this year. The first bill AB 130, which was signed by Governor Brown on July 25, will allow students that meet the in-state tuition requirements to apply for and receive scholarships derived from non-state funds. AB 131 would allow students that meet the in-state tuition requirements to apply and receive financial aid at California public colleges and universities. The types of financial aid these students would be eligible for include:
1) Board of Governors (BOG) Fee Waiver
2) Institutional Student Aid: student aid program administered by the attending college or university (i.e. State University Grant, UC Grant) and
3) Cal Grants. These students would not be eligible to apply or receive any Competitive Cal Grants unless funding remains available after all California resident students have received Competitive awards they are eligible for.
The best way to thank Governor Brown for his signature is that you take time today to write a positive statement on his website, newspaper sites and blogs that feature this story so that your comments outweigh the negative comments. Some sites you can visit include: Sacramento Bee, Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, San Francisco Chronicle, La Opinion, Washington Post, Washington Times, New York Times, and others similar.
It’s is important to express our support to the Gov. by ensuring our positive comments are read as well.
Los Angeles – John Sandweg, counsel to Department for Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano, hosted a phone call today for stakeholders, including community organizations like CHIRLA to announce it will, effective immediately and unilaterally, terminate all Memorandum Of Agreement (MOA) with states who have signed one in order to implement “Secure Communities”, a fingerprint-sharing program between ICE and local police that in reality functions as a drag-net to detain undocumented immigrants, including half a million non-criminal immigrants.