State Senator Lou Correa has introduced a bill that Republicans can get behind in their effort to broaden their appeal to Latino voters. SB 141 will allow United States citizens who leave the country when their parents are deported to return and enjoy in state tuition rates.
In a sense this is the flip side of the Dream Act. “Dreamers” are those students who come into the country illegally with their parents and grow up in the United
States but faced out of state tuition rates since they don’t have legal residency. The Dream Act gave those students in state tuition rates despite their immigration status.
From Senator Lou Correa’s office, “SB 141 would exempt qualified students living abroad from paying nonresident tuition at the University of California, California State Universities and California Community Colleges. The bill also allows these
students to participate in California student financial aid programs and lays
out a series of requirements that they would have to meet. Specifically, SB 141
stipulates that a student must be living abroad as a result of the deportation
of a parent or guardian, must be a current U.S. citizen, and must have been
California resident immediately prior to deportation.”
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Both groups of young people got a raw deal. Life is unfair but it doesn’t have to be completely void of compassion all the time. SB 141 is a small gesture that makes a college education more attainable to Americans born to parents who are entered the country illegally. It gives citizens the same benefit that has been awarded to students who are in the country illegally. This should be a no brainer.
Republicans would be wise to support this bill.
