DREAM ACT

Law Passed in California

Jerry Brown, governor of California, signed controversial legislation into law, allowing illegal immigrants to receive state funding to attend college.

The legislation, which former governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, refused to sign, was the second bill of the two part California Dream Act, AB 131.

According to the California Department of Finance, almost 2,500 students are expected to qualify for grants, “at a cost of $14.5 million.”

Opponents of the law argue that it will condone “illegal immigration by granting access to state resources previously reserved for legal residents.” Critics further argue that the law should not have been passed without an overhaul to the immigration rules.

Supporters of the law feel that it will boost the state’s economy and according to records, the funding being offered to the immigrants will only make up “1 percent of the annual $1.4 billion budget to the Cal Grant program.”

Presidential candidate, Rick Perry, defended a similar Texas policy over the weekend, suggesting that the federal government’s failure to secure the borders has forced the individual states to make decisions about the incoming immigration population.

Perry stated that, in 2001, Texas “had one of two choices: we could either kick them to the side of the road and say we’ll deal with you as a tax waster, or we’re going to give them the opportunity to pursue citizenship, to pay in-state tuition, full fare, [...] and be part of an educated workforce.”

Although the two laws differ in many ways, including the fact that Texas immigrants must pay full tuition and California immigrants are eligible for grants, both are an effort to boost the economy in the states; with Brown stating “The Dream Act benefits us all by giving top students a chance to improve their lives and the lives of all of us,” and Perry indicating “We wanted to make tax-payers, not tax-wasters.”

Read more At BBC News, and at the Huffington Post here and here.