PoliticsPoliticsundocumented immigrantsImmigration

New Push Could Help More Dreamers Afford College

New Push Could Help More Dreamers Afford College
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WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 10: Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D-WA) speaks at a press conference to announce a bipartisan budget deal, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, at the U.S. Capitol on December 10, 2013 in Washington, DC. The $85 billion agreement would set new spending levels for the next two years and create $63 billion in so-called 'sequester relief.' (Photo by T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON -- A joint effort was launched in the House and Senate Thursday to encourage states to grant in-state tuition or financial aid at public colleges to young undocumented immigrants. The funding would offer considerable help for many hoping for an affordable chance at higher education.

Undocumented young people who came to the U.S. as children, often called Dreamers, can receive in-state tuition in 19 states, including those represented by the four lawmakers who signed on to the bill. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) proposed the bill, and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) are original co-sponsors.

The legislation would create the American Dream Grant program to provide $750 million over a decade in need-based financial aid to states that provide in-state tuition and financial aid to undocumented students. It would be paid for by the increasing the fee for student F-1 visas from $200 to $350, according to Castro's office. The legislators estimated that 1.8 million Dreamers could be aided by their bill.

The average price of in-state tuition at public four-year colleges nationwide is nearly $9,000, while the average out-of-state tuition for public four-year colleges is more than $22,000. For many, in-state tuition makes the difference between going to college and not being able to afford it.

"All qualified students should have the same opportunities to get a college degree, regardless of their immigration status," Murray said in a statement. "Undocumented students are no different than their classmates. They live in the same towns, attend the same schools, and share the same dreams -- and they deserve an equal chance to go to college and start successful careers in this country."

Murray and Polis' bill would not require states to offer in-state tuition or financial aid to undocumented students, but instead would supplement financial aid for those that allow it. California, New Mexico and Texas permit undocumented students to receive financial aid from the state, while a number of other states provide in-state tuition.

On the other end of the spectrum, Arizona, Georgia and Indiana prohibit undocumented students from receiving in-state tuition. Alabama and South Carolina go a step further by banning undocumented students from enrolling at public colleges entirely, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Attending college is particularly important for many Dreamers given the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy that started in 2012. The program allows them to remain in the U.S. for two years if they meet certain requirements and may want to continue their education.

The new bill would extend beyond the recipients of the typical deferred action policy, however, and offer funding to whomever is deemed eligible by the state.

House Republicans are currently crafting principles on immigration reform that could include legal status, or even a path to citizenship, for Dreamers -- considered an easier haul than giving legal status to the undocumented population as a whole. But an actual bill that would address Dreamers, despite being discussed for more than six months, has yet to be released.

In the meantime, immigration advocates applauded Murray, Castro, Hirono and Polis for introducing their bill.

"Congress can and should continue to advance proposals to build a broad, direct road to citizenship for all those living and laboring in the United States," Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, said in a statement. "Until then, we need commonsense policies such as the one this bill would create to ensure that all our communities and economies can continue to grow stronger together."

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Before You Go

10 Major U.S. Federal Immigration Laws
The Naturalization Act of 1790(01 of10)
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The Naturalization Act of 1790 was our country's first set of laws dealing with citizenship. Applicants had to be "a free white person" of "good moral character." This excluded indentured servants and slaves. Good moral character was substantiated by establishing residence for at least one year in the state from where he was applying, and at least two years of residence in the country. The Naturalization Act of 1795 would extend that requirement to five years, and is still standard today. (credit:Flickr)
The Fourteenth Amendment, 1868(02 of10)
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A Reconstruction Amendment that was added to the U.S. Constitution following the Civil War, the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment establishes for the first time that children born on U.S. soil would be conferred U.S. citizenship regardless of their parent's citizenship status, race, or place of birth. Last year, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) introduced the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 to Congress, and challenged this. The bill would require that at least one parent be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident for a child to be granted citizenship. According to the bill's text, the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, and "clarify those classes of individuals born in the United States who are nationals and citizens of the United States at birth."Prior to this, Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) introduced a similar bill in 2009. (credit:Getty)
The Naturalization Act of 1870(03 of10)
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The Naturalization Act of 1870 explicitly extended naturalization laws to "aliens of African nativity and persons of African descent." This meant that for the first time, African-American children would be conferred citizenship upon birth. Asian immigrants and other people of color are excluded per the Naturalization Acts of 1790 and 1795. (credit:Getty)
The Page Act of 1875(04 of10)
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Named after Republican Representative Horace F. Page, this is the first U.S. federal immigration law to explicitly prohibit the immigration of a particular group: persons of Asian descent. Primarily meant to limit Chinese immigrant labor and prostitution, the Page Act prohibited the immigration of: (1) contracted labor from "China, Japan, or any Oriental country" that was not "free and voluntary," (2) Chinese prostitution and (3) criminals and women who would engage in prostitution. Ultimately, the Page Act severely restricted the immigration of Asian women. Only 136 of the the nearly 40,000 Chinese immigrants who arrived in the months before the bill's enforcement were women. And, it would pave the way for the Chinese Exclusion Act.In this picture, Michael Lin, chair of the 1882 Project, a coalition of rights groups seeking a statement of regret over that year's Chinese Exclusion Act, speaks on May 26, 2011 in Washington, DC, at the US House of Representatives in front of a reproduction of a 19th-century sign that aimed at rousing up sentiment against Chinese Americans. Lawmakers introduced a bill that would offer an official statement of regret for the act, which banned further immigration of Chinese to the United States and ended citizenship rights for ethnic Chinese. (AFP PHOTO/SHAUN TANDON). (credit:Getty)
The Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882(05 of10)
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Signed by President Chester A. Arthur, the Chinese Exclusion Act was the first federal immigration law to prohibit immigration on the basis of race. The bill barred all Chinese laborers, skilled and unskilled, from immigrating to the U.S. for ten years. It was made permanent by 1903, and was not lifted until the 1943 Magnuson Act. The 1898 Supreme Court decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark finally extended naturalization laws to persons of Chinese descent by ruling that anyone born in the United States was indeed a U.S. citizen. This editorial cartoon from 1882 shows a Chinese man being excluded from entry to the "Golden Gate of Liberty." The sign next to the iron door reads, "Notice--Communist, Nihilist, Socialist, Fenian & Hoodlum welcome. But no admittance to Chinamen." At the bottom, the caption reads, "THE ONLY ONE BARRED OUT. Enlightened American Statesman--'We must draw the line somewhere, you know.'" (Image Source: Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, vol. 54 (1882 April 1), p. 96. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons). (credit:Wikimedia Commons)
The Naturalization Act of 1906(06 of10)
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The Naturalization Act of 1906 further defined the naturalization process: the ability to speak English was made a requisite for immigrants to adjust their status. (credit:Flickr Creative Commons)
The Immigration Act of 1924(07 of10)
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U.S. President Coolidge signed this U.S. federal bill into law. It capped the number of immigrants who could be admitted entry to the U.S. and barred immigration of persons who were not eligible for naturalization. And, as the Naturalization Act of 1790 required, an immigrant had to be white in order to naturalize. The quotas varied by country. Image Source: Flickr Creative Commons, NYCMarines. (credit:Flickr Creative Commons)
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (The McCarran-Walter Act)(08 of10)
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The McCarran-Walter Act kept up the controversial Immigration Act of 1924, but formally ended Asian exclusion. (credit:Flickr Creative Commons)
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965(09 of10)
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When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, it abolished the quota system that favored immigration from Europe and limited immigration from Asia and South America. (credit:Wikimedia Commons)
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996(10 of10)
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The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) is a piece of legislation that defined an array of issues to do with legal and illegal immigration -- from outlining how border patrol agents should administer visa processing, to the minutiae of how to handle deportation proceedings -- IIRIRA established enforcement and patrolling practices. (credit:AP)
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