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12 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 , 2011 Students hopeful as CA DREAM Act nears approval Libby Freeman/MOUNTAINEER Josue Velasquez Staff Writer The California Legislature has approved a house bill that will grant undocumented students financial aid. Known as the CA DREAM Act, Assembly bill 131 was first presented by Assemblyman Gilbert Cedillo [D-Calif.] in 2006. However, the bill has failed to become law since its introduction in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010. “The CA DREAM Act has passed the state Senate and assembly four times and been vetoed four times by former [Republican] California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,” said Mt. SAC alumnus Justino Mora, 22, political and computer science major at UCLA. “It’s clear that the people of California desire to continue to invest in the higher education of students because in the long- run it will create a more educated workforce, strengthen California’s economy and competitiveness in the global markets, and generate the much needed tax revenue that the state needs,” he added. Mora was one of over 25,000 undocumented students who graduate from a California high school each year. According to californiadreamact.org, these students face a challenge when they are accepted to “premier public colleges and universities” and are unable to fund their education because they do not receive financial aid. The CA DREAM Act would relieve many of these challenges by making students eligible for the Board of Governors Fee Waiver (BOG), grants administered by the University of California and California State University systems, and Cal Grants to those who meet the in-state tuition requirements. The BOG waives enrollment fees for students and the Cal Grant is a seperate financial aid program administrated by the California Student Aid Program. However, Cal Grants would only be available to undocumented students if funding remains after all California residents and eligible students receive their awards. Because of the competitiveness of the grants, it poses the question of whether or not the bill will give false hopes to undocumented students. Mora said that the CA DREAM Act will not give false hopes to undocumented students attending public colleges and universities because the state is able to allocate funding for all those students who meet in-state tuition requirement. He said that even if there are not sufficient state-funds for undocumented students, they will have access to non-state funded scholarships. “The CA DREAM Act is a huge victory and will open the doors to higher education to hundreds of hard-working, dedicated, and intelligent undocumented students,” Mora said. According to californiadreamact.org, the bill would go into effect on July 1, 2012 and undocumented students must meet all the requirements that follow: “1. [Attend a] secondary school in California for three or more years; at least one year of which shall have been at a California high school 2. [Graduate] from a California secondary school or attainment of the equivalent thereof. 3. If undocumented, the filing of an affidavit with the college or university stating that they have applied for a lawful immigration status or will apply as soon as they are eligible to do so.” However, while the bill sits on the governor’s desk, some say that the state cannot afford to fund the education of people who are in this country illegally. Opponents have also decried it because of the current economic status of the state and because the state will be spending more money. In a Los Angeles Times article on Sept. 1, opponents of the bill such as Republican Senator Doug La Malfa said that “It’s against the rule of law for benefits to be given out to people here without legal status. People are just insulted.” According to a New York Times article on Aug. 31, “[The CA DREAM Act] is expected to cost about $40 million, according to an analysis by the State Senate, about 1 percent of the state’s total $3.5 billion budget for college financial aid.” Mora, who has been involved in the immigration movement since 2009 and has worked with organizations such as Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success at Mt. SAC and UCLA, and the CA DREAM Network, said that many people are misinformed about the bill. “Those who argue that it is unfair to fund the education of immigrant students are misinformed, uneducated about the issue, or driven by negative emotions and biases,” Mora said. The Immigration Policy Center states that immigrants in California pay “$30 billion in federal taxes, $5.2 billion in state income taxes and $4.6 billion in sales tax each year.” “What people lose sight of, is that these individuals shop, contribute and pay taxes… and those income taxes that are taken out and given both to the federal and state level don’t come back to these individuals,” Juan Carlos Astorga, director of TRiO Programs said. Astorga said that it is very unfortunate that the undocumented population does not have access to those tax funds after everything they have contributed. “Sometimes people say ‘this amount of dollars is what they are going to steal from us,’ but we have to wait a minute and talk about the bigger picture and what they contribute to us,” Astorga said. In the past months, Astorga has been focusing his doctoral research on the community of undocumented students at Mt. SAC. He has been looking at the leadership and educational achievements of these students who are undocumented, and is looking to document their lives. “What I’m looking for is to really get the stories of their lives and speak to their experiences. What the trajectory was when they came to the United States. How did they negotiate the transition? And what the every day realities they face from checkpoints, to how they are going to pay their classes,” Astorga said. Astorga hopes that once the CA DREAM Act is signed by the governor, he would like to see the campus make plans to create funds that will be accessible to undocumented students. “A lot of conservative individuals are up in arms about what they say is ‘illegals having access to our financial aid,’ which is not the case. What it is, is that we are providing and adding to acknowledge the existence of our students and creating a supportive environment on the campus but also state level.” Gov. Brown has until Sept. 30 to sign the CA DREAM Act into law. And while supporters of the bill wait, undocumented students like Karla Estrada, 20, biological anthropology and political science major continue to call Gov. Brown’s office in support of the bill. “For right now the most important thing is to make phone calls to the governor of California since there is a surplus of individuals that are against the bill.” Estrada is more than confident that Gov. Brown will sign the bill. “Jerry Brown has stated that he will sign the CA DREAM Act once it is in his table… I am very confident that he will sign it, in fact, I’m almost sure he will,” said Estrada.
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Josue Velasquez Staff Writer Libby Freeman/MOUNTAINEER Josue Velasquez Staff Writer TUESDAY,SEPTEMBER20,2011 Libby Freeman/MOUNTAINEER
Transcript of Multiculture Pg 12-13
12 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 , 2011
Students hopeful as CA DREAM Act nears approvalLibby Freeman/MOUNTAINEER
Josue VelasquezStaff Writer
The California Legislature has approved a house bill that will grant undocumented students financial aid. Known as the CA DREAM Act, Assembly bill 131 was first presented by Assemblyman Gilbert Cedillo [D-Calif.] in 2006. However, the bill has failed to become law since its introduction in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010.
“The CA DREAM Act has passed the state Senate and assembly four times and been vetoed four times by former [Republican] California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,” said Mt. SAC alumnus Justino Mora, 22, political and computer science major at UCLA.
“It’s clear that the people of California desire to continue to invest in the higher education of students because in the long-run it will create a more educated workforce, strengthen California’s economy and competitiveness in the global markets, and generate the much needed tax revenue that the state needs,” he added.
Mora was one of over 25,000 undocumented students who graduate from a California high school each year. According to californiadreamact.org, these students face a challenge when they are accepted to “premier public colleges and universities” and are unable to fund their education because they do not receive financial aid.
The CA DREAM Act would relieve many of these challenges by making students eligible for the Board of Governors Fee Waiver (BOG), grants administered by the University of California and California State University systems, and Cal Grants to those who meet the in-state tuition requirements. The BOG waives enrollment fees for students and the Cal Grant is a seperate financial aid program administrated by the California Student Aid Program. However, Cal Grants would only be available to undocumented students if funding remains after all California residents and eligible students receive their awards.
Because of the competitiveness of the grants, it poses the question of whether or not the bill will give false hopes to undocumented students.
Mora said that the CA DREAM Act will not give false hopes to undocumented students attending public colleges and universities because the state is able to allocate funding for all those students who meet in-state tuition requirement.
He said that even if there are not sufficient state-funds for undocumented students, they will have access to non-state funded scholarships.
“The CA DREAM Act is a huge victory and will open the doors to higher education to hundreds of hard-working, dedicated, and intelligent undocumented students,” Mora said.
According to californiadreamact.org, the bill would go into effect on July 1, 2012 and undocumented students must meet all the requirements that follow: “1. [Attend a] secondary school in California for three or more years; at least one year of which shall have been at a California high school 2. [Graduate] from a California secondary school or attainment of the equivalent thereof. 3. If undocumented, the filing of an affidavit with the college or university stating that they have applied for a lawful immigration status or will apply as soon as they are eligible to do so.”
However, while the bill sits on the governor’s desk, some say that the state cannot afford to fund the education of people who are in this country illegally. Opponents have also decried it because of the current economic status of the state and because the state will be spending more money. In a Los Angeles Times article on Sept. 1, opponents of the bill such as Republican Senator Doug La Malfa said that “It’s against the rule of law for benefits to be given out to people here without legal status. People are just insulted.”
According to a New York Times article on Aug. 31, “[The CA DREAM Act] is expected to cost about $40 million, according to an analysis by the State Senate, about 1 percent of the state’s total $3.5 billion budget for college financial aid.”
Mora, who has been involved in the immigration movement since 2009 and has worked with organizations such as Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success at Mt. SAC and UCLA, and the CA DREAM Network, said that many people are misinformed about the bill. “Those who argue that it is unfair to fund the education of immigrant students are misinformed, uneducated about the issue, or driven by negative emotions and biases,” Mora said.
The Immigration Policy Center states that immigrants in California pay “$30 billion in federal taxes, $5.2 billion in state income taxes and $4.6 billion in sales tax each year.”
“What people lose sight of, is that these
individuals shop, contribute and pay taxes… and those income taxes that are taken out and given both to the federal and state level don’t come back to these individuals,” Juan Carlos Astorga, director of TRiO Programs said. Astorga said that it is very unfortunate that the undocumented population does not have access to those tax funds after everything they have contributed.
“Sometimes people say ‘this amount of dollars is what they are going to steal from us,’ but we have to wait a minute and talk about the bigger picture and what they contribute to us,” Astorga said.
In the past months, Astorga has been focusing his doctoral research on the community of undocumented students at Mt. SAC. He has been looking at the leadership and educational achievements of these students who are undocumented, and is looking to document their lives.
“What I’m looking for is to really get the stories of their lives and speak to their experiences. What the trajectory was when they came to the United States. How did they negotiate the transition? And what the every day realities they face from checkpoints, to how they are going to pay their classes,” Astorga said.
Astorga hopes that once the CA DREAM Act is signed by the governor, he would like to see the campus make plans to create funds that will be accessible to undocumented students.
“A lot of conservative individuals are up in arms about what they say is ‘illegals having access to our financial aid,’ which is not the case. What it is, is that we are providing and adding to acknowledge the existence of our students and creating a supportive environment on the campus but also state level.”
Gov. Brown has until Sept. 30 to sign the CA DREAM Act into law. And while supporters of the bill wait, undocumented students like Karla Estrada, 20, biological anthropology and political science major continue to call Gov. Brown’s office in support of the bill.
“For right now the most important thing is to make phone calls to the governor of California since there is a surplus of individuals that are against the bill.” Estrada is more than confident that Gov. Brown will sign the bill. “Jerry Brown has stated that he will sign the CA DREAM Act once it is in his table… I am very confident that he will sign it, in fact, I’m almost sure he will,” said Estrada.
13TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2011
Josue VelasquezStaff Writer
La Legislatura de California aprobó una propuesta de ley la cual otorgaría a estudiantes indocumentados ayuda financiera. La propuesta llamada el Acta del Sueño de California, medida de la asamblea 131, fue presentada por primera vez por el asambleísta demócrata por Los Ángeles, Gilbert Cedillo en el 2006. Sin embargo, la propuesta de ley no ha logrado ser firmada desde su introducción en el 2006, 2007, 2008 y 2010.
“El Acta del Sueño de California fue aprobada por el Senado del estado y la asamblea en cuatro ocasiones y ha sido vetada cuatro veces por el ex gobernador republicano Arnold Schwarzenegger,” dijo Justino Mora, 22, estudiante de ciencias políticas y computadoras en la universidad de UCLA. “Está claro que el estado de California desea seguir invirtiendo en la educación superior de los estudiantes, porque en el largo plazo se creará una fuerza laboral más educada, fortalecerá la economía de California y la competitividad en los mercados globales, y generara la cantidad de impuestos que el estado necesita,” agregó Mora.
Mora es uno de más de 25,000 estudiantes indocumentados que se gradúan de las secundarias de California cada año. De acuerdo con californiadreamact.org, estos alumnos se enfrentan a un reto cuando son aceptados a “los colegios públicos y universidades distinguidas “ y no tienen los recursos para financiar su educación, ya que no reciben ayuda financiera.
El Acta del Sueño de California podría aliviar muchos de estos retos haciendo que los estudiantes sean elegibles para la forma de Junta de Gobernadores [BOG] cual es un programa que elimina los cobros de matricula, becas administradas por los sistemas de las Universidades de California y las Universidades Estatales de California, y el Cal Grant para aquellos que cumplan con los requisitos del estado. El programa del Cal Grant es administrado por el Programa Financiero para Estudiantes de California. Sin embargo, el Cal Grant sólo estaría disponible para los estudiantes indocumentados si hay suficiente fondos después de que los residentes de California y los estudiantes elegibles reciban sus becas.
Debido a la competitividad de las becas, se propone la cuestión que si la ley propuesta daría falsas esperanzas a los estudiantes indocumentados.
Mora dijo que el Acta del Sueño de California no daría falsas esperanzas a los estudiantes indocumentados que asisten a colegios y universidades públicas, porque el estado siempre asigna suficientes fondos para
todos aquellos estudiantes que se matriculan. También dijo que si no hay suficientes fondos para los estudiantes indocumentados, ellos tendrán acceso a becas no financiadas por el estado. “El Acta del Sueño de California es una gran victoria y le abrirá las puertas a la educación superior a mucho estudiantes indocumentados que son trabajadores, dedicados y inteligentes,” dijo Mora.
Según californiadreamact.org, la propuesta de ley entraría en efecto el 1 de julio del 2012 y los estudiantes indocumentados deben cumplir con todos los requisitos que siguen: “1. [Asistir la] escuela secundaria en California por tres años o más, por lo menos un año cual haya sido en una escuela secundaria de California 2. [Graduados] de una escuela secundaria de California o su equivalente. 3. Si son indocumentados, registrar por escrito una declaración con el colegio o universidad indicando que han solicitado estatus migratorio legal, o aplicarán tan pronto como sean elegibles para hacerlo.”
Sin embargo, mientras que la ley propuesta se encuentra en el escritorio del gobernador, algunos dicen que el estado no puede o debería financiar la educación de personas que están ilegalmente en el país. Los opositores también han condenado la ley por la mala situación económica actual del estado y porque el estado gastaría más dinero. En un artículo de Los Ángeles Times del 1 de septiembre, los opositores de la ley propuesta como el senador republicano Doug La Malfa, dijo que “es contra los reglamentos de la ley dar beneficios a personas que se encuentren en este país sin estatus legal. La gente está insultada.”
Según un artículo del New York Times el 31 de agosto, “[El Acta del Sueño de California] costara alrededor de $40 millones, según un análisis realizado por el Senado del estado, cual es solamente un por ciento del presupuesto de $3.5 mil millones otorgado a la ayuda financiera para estudiantes.”
Mora, quien ha estado involucrado en el movimiento de inmigración desde el 2009 y ha trabajado con organizaciones como la Coalición de Los Ángeles por los Derechos Humanos de los Inmigrantes (CHIRLA), Mejorando Sueños, Igualdad, Acceso y Éxito [IDEAS] de Mt. SAC y UCLA, y la Red de Los Sueños de California [CA DREAM Network], dijo que mucha gente está mal informada sobre la ley propuesta. “Aquellos que argumentan que es injusto financiar la educación de los alumnos inmigrantes están mal informados y educados sobre el tema, o son impulsados por emociones negativas y prejuicios,” dijo Mora.
El Centro de la Política de Inmigración afirma que los inmigrantes en el estado de California pagan “$30 mil millones en
impuestos federales, $ 5.2 mil millones en impuestos estatales y $4.6 mil millones en impuestos de venta cada año.”
“Lo que la gente pierda de vista, es que estas personas compran, contribuyen y pagan impuestos... y esos impuestos son repartidos al nivel federal y estatal y no regresan a estas personas,” Juan Carlos Astorga, director de los programas TRiO dijo. Astorga dijo que es muy lamentable que la población indocumentada no tiene acceso a los fondos de los impuestos después de todo lo que han contribuido. “A veces la gente dice ‘esta cantidad de dólares es lo que nos van a robar,’ pero hay que esperar un minuto. Hay que hablar de la imagen más grande y de lo que ellos nos aportan,” dijo Astorga.
En los últimos meses, Astorga ha concentrado su investigación doctoral en la comunidad de estudiantes indocumentados en el colegio de Mt. SAC. Ha estado observando el liderazgo y los logros educativos de los estudiantes que son indocumentados, tratando de documentar sus vidas. “Lo que estoy haciendo en realidad es obtener las historias de sus vidas y hablar de sus experiencias. Sus trayectorias cuando llegaron a los Estados Unidos. ¿Cómo negociaron la transición? Y la realidad que enfrentan todos los días como los retenes, a cómo van a pagar sus clases,” dijo Astorga.
Astorga espera que una vez que el Acta del Sueño de California este firmado por el gobernador, le gustaría ver que el colegio empiece hacer planes de crear fondos que serán accesibles a los estudiantes indocumentados.
“Muchas de las personas conservadoras están enojados porque dicen que los ‘ilegales van a tener acceso a nuestra ayuda financiera”, lo cual no es el caso. Lo que es, es que estamos ofreciendo y añadiendo a reconocer la existencia de nuestros estudiantes y creando un ambiente de apoyo al nivel del colegio y estado.”
El gobernador Brown tiene hasta el 30 de septiembre para firmar el Acta del Sueño de California. Y mientras que los partidarios en favor de la ley esperan, estudiantes indocumentados como Karla Estrada, 20, estudiante de antropología biológica y ciencias políticas sigue llamando la oficina del gobernador Brown. “Por ahora lo más importante es hacer las llamadas telefónicas al gobernador de California, ya que hay un exceso de personas que están en contra de la ley.” Estrada está más que segura que el gobernador Brown firmará la ley propuesta. “Jerry Brown ha declarado que va a firmar el Acta del Sueño de California una vez que esté en su escritorio... estoy muy segura de que él la firmará, de hecho, estoy casi segura de que lo hará,” dijo Estrada.
El Acta del Sueño a un paso de ser aprovada Libby Freeman/MOUNTAINEER
