California Assembly passes bill to let undocumented students apply for college scholarships

Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo

Maria Luna, 23, a 2010 graduate of California State University, Sacramento, sits in the Assembly gallery at the Capitol in Sacramento on May 5, 2011, wearing her graduation cap and gown to show her support for a measure to allow students who are in the country illegally to collect privately funded college scholarships.

California’s State Assembly on Thursday approved legislation to let undocumented students apply for college scholarships. But only Democrats voted for the bill. Assembly Republicans say it makes no sense to offer financial aid to students who have no legal right to live and work in California.

Under the California Dream Act, only students who’ve attended a California high school for at least three years may apply for college scholarships — but only for those that private donors underwrite. Assemblyman Gil Cedillo of Los Angeles said these students deserve at least that much.

“These young men and women were brought here through no choice of their own, brought as infants and toddlers,” says Cedillo, “and within one generation they’ve learned our language, embraced our culture and have become some of the best and brightest in our higher education system.”

Republican Assemblyman Chris Norby agreed that undocumented minors deserve a break. But he said California shouldn’t provide it until the federal government gives the children of illegal immigrants the right to live and work legally in this country.

“This bill is like a coach of a team saying ‘Yeah, I’ll let you on the team, and I’ll make you practice, you’ll do the wind sprints, you’ll go through all the drills, but I can’t legally let you in the game. And if I do I’ll be punished,’” says Norby.

To bolster his argument, the Orange County Republican referred to an employer who lost his business because he’d violated federal law by hiring undocumented workers.

“While it may be illegal to hire them, it is not illegal to educate them,” he says.

Cedillo responded that it’s better to prepare for the day undocumented students might gain citizenship: by educating all California’s students to the fullest extent possible.