New York legislators have just adopted their own "DREAM law"



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Contrary to the proposed federal measure, which would grant conditional green cards to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, the New York version focuses more narrowly on another battlefield of the debate over Immigration: tuition fees in colleges.

• Provides public tuition assistance programs to undocumented immigrants who have attended high school in New York for at least two years and have obtained a degree or diploma of equivalence.

• Creates a "DREAM Fund" – funded by private contributions – to provide scholarships to immigrant children.

This measure was passed by the New York State Senate (40-20) and by the New York State Assembly (90-37). Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to sign the law .
Advocates of immigrant rights praised this measure as a sign of successful organizing efforts at the state level . His passing comes as the so-called Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who had been brought to the United States while they were children, end up in stalemate during a political stalemate in Washington.
  The Supreme Court does not intervene again against DACA, leaving the policy in force for the moment.

Legislators of the state of New York who voted in favor of adopting the measure said that it was particularly important at a time when federal authorities are increasingly targeting the communities of the United States. immigrants.

"We must do everything in our power to help immigrants, regardless of their status, to receive an education that allows them to better contribute to the lives of our New York State communities," said the senator. Democrat Robert Jackson.

Other legislators said that they could not support the bill.

Sen. James Tedisco, a Republican, said his constituents were against it.

"They can not understand why this bill is passed for people who have broken the law," he said.

The payment of college tuition fees has been a major battlefield. for years in the debate about immigration.

Lawmakers in 16 states, including New York, enacted laws allowing undocumented immigrants to pay school fees in their state, according to the National Conference on State Legislatures.

Six states – Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri and South Carolina – explicitly prohibited this practice

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