Thread: N.J. Senate leader says Dream Act vote set for Monday

NOVEMBER 12, 2013
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N.J. Senate leader says Dream Act vote set for Monday

New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney said the full Senate will vote Monday on a bill granting in-state tuition rates to students brought to the country illegally as children.

The Tuition Equality Act (A4225), known as the New Jersey DREAM Act, will go before the Senate Budget Committee Thursday as part of a renewed push for the legislation that foundered in June. Undocumented immigrants now can enroll in New Jersey's public colleges, but they are charged the out-of-state tuition rate.

"My hope is that the DREAM Act gets passed out of both houses and is on the governor's desk in December so kids don't have to pay another semester at an increased rate," said Sweeney, D-Gloucester.

Two versions of the tuition bill have already passed in the state Assembly.

The bill under consideration in the Senate would make students eligible for two tuition grant programs to help low-income families. The Assembly has passed one bill that includes the tuition assistance and one without.

Activist Karol Ruiz would have benefited from a tuition break herself. Brought to the country by her parents in 1985, she became a citizen in 2011.

She and other organizers for in-state tuition for immigrants say they plan to pack the Thursday hearing before the Senate Budget Committee.

"On the macro level, we do need to address the access to higher education for everyone," Ruiz said. "Just like everyone, else undocumented immigrants from working class families face the same challenges."

Republican Gov. Chris Christie made comments in October that suggested a turnaround on the tuition bill he had previously opposed. In a debate against Democratic gubernatorial challenger Barbara Buono, Christie said, "What I always have said is that when economic times got better, that that would be one of the things that I would consider."

"It's time now — given that economic times are getting better and the state budget revenues are going up," he said.

His office did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment.

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/l...set-for-monday

RELATED

http://www.alipac.us/f12/10-n-j-city...am-act-291887/

My email to this author...

Ms Jacobs:

I just read your article about in-state tuition for illegal immigrants in New Jersey.

Where exactly is the source opposed to this legislation? Did I miss something or are the opinions of the majority of citizens which oppose in-state tuition for illegal immigrants not welcome in your reports?

William Gheen
AMERICANS FOR LEGAL IMMIGRATION PAC
www.alipac.us
Post Office Box 30966, Raleigh, NC 27622-0966
Tel: (919) 787-6009 Toll Free: (866) 703-0864
FEC ID: C00405878

follow up...

Emma,

I have helped to defeat in-state tuition for illegal immigrants in more than 20 states through our national efforts with ALIPAC. In fact, the only states that pass such measures do so when our view representing the majority of citizens is excluded from the debate by biased media reports. When our perspective is included or reaches lawmakers through activists efforts... the bills fail.

A JWP Civitas Institute poll here in NC from 2005 found that 81% of voters were less likely to support a lawmaker that supported in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.

A March 2009, Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey Poll found that "Only 20% of New Jersey residents favor extending in-state college tuition rates to undocumented immigrants living in the state compared to 37% who say illegal immigrants should pay higher out-of-state rates. 39% say that illegal immigrants should not even be allowed to attend New Jersey’s public colleges and universities at all"

I don't know if you plan to publish any further articles before the lawmakers vote, but my statement on the matter is as follows...

"The vast majority of American states and US citizens reject in-state tuition for illegal immigrants legislation because it forces taxpayers to pay to replace their own young family members in our limited seats in college, while at the same time legitimizing and encouraging more illegal immigration." -- William Gheen, President of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC)

William Gheen
AMERICANS FOR LEGAL IMMIGRATION PAC
www.alipac.us
Post Office Box 30966, Raleigh, NC 27622-0966
Tel: (919) 787-6009 Toll Free: (866) 703-0864
FEC ID: C00405878



On 11/13/2013 4:26 PM, Emma Jacobs wrote:

Hi, thanks for getting in touch. The story was not meant to be comprehensive. It was a quick update on what's expected in the next week and I spoke with the folks who I learned had activities planned.

If there's anyone else you know of who's active in the state who I should keep in mind as a source, please let me know.

I spoke with pollsters in the state and they did not come up with any NJ polling data on in-state tuition. May I ask what numbers you're citing?

Emma


Sent from the road.

our email debate continues...

Ms Jacobs,

I am not familiar with any national poll stating what you indicate here. Could you please give me the source you are quoting? If the poll I have cited is the last data available for New Jersey it is a valid source to be used especially when the lean against in-state tuition is around 5 to 1 against! Ive never seen a poll shift that much in a decade much less 4 years. Also, we do have an unscientific online poll that is matching the 2009 poll. And if you are uncomfortable siting the 2009 poll, I am not. I am quite certain that the view I seek to express to the public through the media is the view of the vast majority and it is a view that has been omitted entirely from your last article while sources representing the opposite view are numerous and unchecked.

William Gheen
www.alipac.us

On 11/14/2013 9:45 AM, Emma Jacobs wrote:

Thank you. I appreciate having the statement on hand. I'm not sure what we're planning but the issue is likely to last a couple more weeks as the Governor considers his next move as well.

I'd be a little hesitant to cite a poll from 2009 as I think the debate has moved substantially since that point. As of 2011 the country as a whole was almost evenly split per Quinippiac and New Jersey tends to lean more pro than average.

ANGELA DELLI SANTI, The Associated Press
Posted: Thursday, November 14, 2013, 5:54 PM

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Giancarlo Tello has suspended his studies at Rutgers University in hopes that New Jersey will join more than a dozen other states and pass a law allowing undocumented students like him to pay in-state tuition rates.

Tello, 23, whose parents illegally brought him to the United States from Peru when he was 6, would save thousands of dollars per semester if the bill becomes law. The Essex County resident told lawmakers Thursday that he was oblivious to his immigration status until he brought home a driver's license application and was told 'no' by his mother because he didn't have a social security number.

More than 10,000 students like Tello moved a step closer Thursday to being able to pay in-state tuition at New Jersey colleges and universities, a benefit still restricted to legal residents in all but about a dozen states.

The Senate version of the bill also gives undocumented students access to financial aid. It is set to move to the Senate floor for a full vote Monday.

The Assembly passed a version of the bill in June that does not include the financial aid provision. However, incoming Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto said the chamber is likely to consider the more inclusive measure soon.

Republican Gov. Chris Christie, a likely presidential candidate in 2016 who has been touting his re-election support among Hispanics, appears to have softened his opposition to the measure, which is widely supported by minority voters. But it's unclear whether he would sign the bill.

During his re-election campaign for governor, he told the Latino Leadership Alliance he generally supports legislation benefiting illegal immigrants brought into the country as children. The day after winning re-election and garnering 50 percent of the Hispanic vote, Christie told an audience in predominantly Hispanic Union City he hoped to get a deal done with the Legislature during the lame-duck session, but that the plan must be fiscally sound and take everybody's dreams into account.

Proponents say these students, who are residents of the state, deserve the cheaper rate. They say their future economic and social contributions to society will be far greater if they are allowed to continue their studies. Prieto said it doesn't make much sense to support these students through high school then stop doing so before they enter college.

New Jersey Citizens for Immigration Control, on the other hand, opposes what it says is taxpayer subsidies for illegal immigrants to attend college. They say such a bill would undermine the efforts by legal residents to obtain good-paying jobs.

Conservatives who play a big role in selecting the Republican presidential nominee strongly oppose bills that help illegal residents.

In New Jersey, an estimated 10,000 or more state college students could benefit.

http://www.philly.com/philly/educati...265d8f12e.html

Added most recent article above to the Homepage with slightly amended title:
http://www.alipac.us/content.php?r=2...e-tuition-bill

What’s Your Opinion on the ‘DREAM’ Act? [POLL]

By Jim Gearhart Show November 15, 2013 8:30 AM
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A number of New Jersey’s illegal immigrants would be eligible for in-state tuition rates and state aid for college under a bill advanced by the State Senate Budget Committee today. It is called the DREAM Act and it is being touted as tuition equality.

Natalie Cass, Getty ImagesThe majority of listeners who called into the show today were upset by this measure and do not believe we should be giving out tuition to undocumented immigrants. Most of the callers felt that this would be too much of a hardship on the taxpayers and make things even harder for legal and local residents to get accepted into the school of their choice.

RELATED: NJ State Panel Advances DREAM Act

What’s your reaction to the ‘Dream” act? Take our poll below and let us know what you think.

Thank you for voting!

I'm for it 4.55%

I'm against it 77.27%

I need to learn more about it 18.18%

VOTE @ http://nj1015.com/whats-your-opinion-on-the-dream-act/

RELATED

http://www.alipac.us/f12/nj-senate-p...-rates-292357/