Will undocumented students studying at universities and colleges in California ever receive the same rights and financial aid as their legal counterparts?
This was the question discussed by a panel Wednesday evening at UC Berkeley’s Free Speech Movement Cafe by three experts who approached the issue — the California DREAM Act, whose second part would grant undocumented students access to public financial aid — from historical, political and cultural angles.
Lisa García Bedolla, associate professor of political studies and Chicano/Latino studies and chair of the campus Center for Latino Policy Research, Aarti Kohli, director of immigration policy at the UC Berkeley School of Law’s Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy and Kevin Escudero, a doctoral student in the Department of Ethnic Studies, presented varying views from their respective fields to provide historical and cultural perspective on the causes and potential effects of the act.
“We created this problem,” Bedolla said. “Immigrants are part of our community, part of our society. They are here because of economic and political structures that are beyond their control and the United States was complicit in.”
The act has two parts, AB 130 and AB 131. AB 130, which was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in July, allowed universities to give private financial aid to undocumented students. AB 131 awaits Brown’s signature and would grant undocumented students access to public financial aid. He has until Oct. 9 to sign the bill into law.
Kohli traced the legislative history of the act to the landmark United States Supreme Court decision Plyler v. Doe, which allowed undocumented children to attend public schools until 12th grade. This set the stage for later state legislation regarding higher education, such as AB 540 — passed 2001, it allows undocumented students who meet certain conditions to pay in-state tuition at a state public higher education institution — and the current DREAM Act, she said.
“(The act) will provide financial support for these students and relieve psychological stress that results when they have to find ways to pay their tuition,” said third year Humberto Ortiz.
Although the act has benefits for a very specific group of undocumented immigrants — the students — Kohli said that it could cast a more negative light on other segments of the undocumented population, including those students’ parents.
“By saying (the students) are worthy, it makes other immigrants unworthy,” she said.
Regardless of the division it could potentially cause in the undocumented community, Kohli said that AB 130’s passage marks a new chapter in the legislative and historical story of illegal immigrants in the United States.
“What California did this year is pretty amazing,” she said. “It’s the leader in the country. The legislature passed AB 130 which Gov. Brown has signed – this is a major step.”