Written by Oscar, UCLA Alumnus
Organized by Senator Cedillo’s office, SALEF, among other key organizations and political/community leaders, the California Dream Act Strategy Conference at Los Angeles Trade Tech College provided a forum to discuss the previous challenges that hindered—and the effective strategies and methods that helped—efforts to grant financial assistance to deserving AB540 students in California through the CA Dream Act (currently SB1301). The event hosted an array of discussions regarding political, media and community, grassroots strategies that will make the CA Dream Act a reality this political season.
The conference was important since the CA Dream Act has now moved through various critical tests within the California legislature and has been modified to gather additional support and meet key demands made by the Governor. The most fundamental change includes the elimination of state aid, a modification that personally seems unjust considering that immigrants, undocumented or otherwise, pay sales taxes, property taxes, and income taxes. But the current form of the bill allows for needed institutional (university) assistance, in the form of grants, scholarships, fellowships and the Governor’s fee waivers, which applies to community colleges, to students who currently attend public colleges and universities in California. Considering the thousands of dollars that I, along with other AB50 alumni and current students, have paid in tuition and fees at our universities, it seems fair that we have access to the same pool of resources available to our peers.
Some of the people present included Angelica Salas, Gil Cedillo, Nativo Lopez, Kent Wong, and various AB540 student groups from Los Angeles and Orange County. We sold a ton of books and actually ran out of texts towards the end of the event. I had a really great time talking about the book, listening to the speakers, and mingling with colleagues and peers. And I loved the refrescos, especially the Jaritos!
Attending these events, not to mention speaking about the issue, is always a challenge for me considering the psychological, emotional strength they require. It is mentally taxing to talk about one’s difficult circumstances, circumstances that cannot be remedied until immigration reform is implemented. But although it is challenging to constantly face this issue, attending these events give me hope and strength knowing that other students, community members, and political leaders are working together to push for needed relief and to acknowledge the hard work, academic accomplishments, professional aspirations, personal sacrifice and integrity, citizenship and patriotism of AB540 youth. Our issue is not one of undocumented immigrants using emotional tools to gain a legal status: Our issue and battle is for the right to an education, to respect as human beings, and to the acknowledgment of our dedication to the betterment of community and nation.
To find out more about the CA Dream Act, please visit:
http://dist22.casen.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC=%7B618F8B21-E3F2-436F-AD33-4F47062FA1BD%7D
The conference was important since the CA Dream Act has now moved through various critical tests within the California legislature and has been modified to gather additional support and meet key demands made by the Governor. The most fundamental change includes the elimination of state aid, a modification that personally seems unjust considering that immigrants, undocumented or otherwise, pay sales taxes, property taxes, and income taxes. But the current form of the bill allows for needed institutional (university) assistance, in the form of grants, scholarships, fellowships and the Governor’s fee waivers, which applies to community colleges, to students who currently attend public colleges and universities in California. Considering the thousands of dollars that I, along with other AB50 alumni and current students, have paid in tuition and fees at our universities, it seems fair that we have access to the same pool of resources available to our peers.
Some of the people present included Angelica Salas, Gil Cedillo, Nativo Lopez, Kent Wong, and various AB540 student groups from Los Angeles and Orange County. We sold a ton of books and actually ran out of texts towards the end of the event. I had a really great time talking about the book, listening to the speakers, and mingling with colleagues and peers. And I loved the refrescos, especially the Jaritos!
Attending these events, not to mention speaking about the issue, is always a challenge for me considering the psychological, emotional strength they require. It is mentally taxing to talk about one’s difficult circumstances, circumstances that cannot be remedied until immigration reform is implemented. But although it is challenging to constantly face this issue, attending these events give me hope and strength knowing that other students, community members, and political leaders are working together to push for needed relief and to acknowledge the hard work, academic accomplishments, professional aspirations, personal sacrifice and integrity, citizenship and patriotism of AB540 youth. Our issue is not one of undocumented immigrants using emotional tools to gain a legal status: Our issue and battle is for the right to an education, to respect as human beings, and to the acknowledgment of our dedication to the betterment of community and nation.
To find out more about the CA Dream Act, please visit:
http://dist22.casen.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC=%7B618F8B21-E3F2-436F-AD33-4F47062FA1BD%7D
1 comments:
This is great news - Keep up the good job of spreading the news and documenting out lives
If you can, link to other Dreamers online - you can find a list at dreamactivist.org
Cheers.
Post a Comment