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July 28, 2005

Jeremy Schwab

Over 30 activists converged on the State House last week to demand legislators pass a bill giving undocumented immigrants the same right to discounted, in-state college tuition rates enjoyed by other Massachusetts residents.

The State House rally last week came at a critical stage in the campaign to pass the Dream Act.

Support for the bill has grown since a version of the bill was first introduced in 2001. The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Coalition, which is leading the campaign, has enlisted support from a range of activist groups, business leaders, clergy, educators and labor unions.

MIRA Coalition Executive Director Ali Noorani says that a majority of members of the House and Senate now support the bill. The Dream Act passed favorably through the Ways and Means Committee, whose vice chairwoman is Marie St. Fleur, the act’s lead sponsor in the House.

Still, some supporters are frustrated that lawmakers have not put the measure to a vote of all House members.

“We have been trying to move it forward in the Legislature, and so far for reasons presumably known to them, they haven’t moved it forward,” said Thomas Keown, a spokesman for the Irish Immigration Center, a MIRA Coalition member.

Because the Legislature failed to pass the bill before lawmakers embarked on their five-week, unofficial summer recess this week, the 400 undocumented students who graduated from Massachusetts high schools earlier this year and other undocumented immigrants who are high school graduates will have to pay the much higher out-of-state tuition rates if they enroll in public college this fall.

Many undocumented immigrants cannot afford the out-of-state rates and so must forego a higher education.

“This is young people’s lives we are talking about,” said Keown, whose group helped organize last week’s rally.

The MIRA Coalition initially hoped to move the bill to a vote before summer recess. But Noorani and other supporters of the bill said they still expect to garner enough votes not only to pass the legislation but also to override a potential veto from Gov. Mitt Romney.

Romney vetoed similar legislation last year.

“Our goal right now is to have the legislation move through the House and Senate and to the governor’s desk in time for kids to enroll in college in December,” said Noorani.

Noorani is hoping that supporters can maintain the momentum they have built over the past year despite the summer recess.

“It is a challenge,” he said. “The fact is that everybody in the State House knows the issue and knows it is the right issue.”

Supporters of the Dream Act note that it would not cost taxpayers anything. Undocumented immigrants would still pay tuition and would have to qualify for college just like everybody else.

The act would only extend the reduced in-state tuition rates to undocumented immigrants if they have lived in Massachusetts for at least three years, graduated from a state high school and begun applying for legal residency status.

Often, applications for legal residency can take years. Meanwhile, students who often came to the United States at a young age often find themselves without many employment prospects and without enough money to afford college.

High school graduates like Steve may get some assistance from a group of Boston-area colleges which are considering establishing a scholarship fund for undocumented immigrant students. The schools whose presidents have reportedly expressed interest in offering the scholarships include Bunker Hill Community College, Lesley University, Massachusetts College of Art and Cambridge College. Scholarships would total about $5,000 annually per student and would make up the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition rates.

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