California Governor Jerry Brown signed three immigration bills on September 27 that will, respectively, provide funding for state public universities to administer loans to students who are in the United States illegally, allow illegal aliens to apply for professional state licenses, and allocate $3 million for non-profit organizations to legally represent minors in deportation cases.
Of the bills, the one that has received the most attention is SB 1210, introduced by Democratic state Senator Ricardo Lara last April. According to a statement from Lara, SB 1210 creates the California Dream Loan Program, which would establish at the University of California and California State University a loan program for “undocumented” students (that is, those who are in this country illegally) who have financial need but lack access to federal or private student loans.
“We invest in California students from an early age and many of them have done what we’ve asked them to do: work hard, study and pursue a higher education,” said Lara. “If we’re serious about strengthening our economy then we must remove obstacles for our future workforce when they’re close to the graduation finish line. Continuing to invest in our future and ensuring that all students have access to the funding resources they need to succeed should be a top priority.”
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Lara apparently subscribes to Keynesian economic theory, wherein deficit spending can be regarded as “investing.”
KXTV in Sacramento reported that the State Dream Loan Program will spend $9.2 million so that state public universities can administer loans to the students who are here illegally. The station spoke with Oswaldo Hernandez, who is identified as an “undocumented” student working toward his master’s in education at California State University, Sacramento. Because of his immigration status (illegal), noted KXTV, Hernandez is ineligible for federal financial assistance and most private loans.
“I think the greatest benefit for myself would be that I can make a single payment towards my tuition,” Hernandez told the reporter. “My first few semesters I had to work grave yard and then mornings while being a full-time student.”
It is puzzling that Hernandez can be publicly identified as being in this country illegally on TV, yet immigration authorities have such difficulty in locating him and deporting him, as our law provides. Instead, the overburdened taxpayers of California will be forced to loan money to Hernandez so he can complete his education. One wonders if some of them cannot afford a college education for their own children.
The California Dream Loan Program was unveiled on April 8 at a press conference at which Senator Lara was joined by University of California President Janet Napolitano, who was the Obama administration’s secretary of Homeland Security from January 21, 2009 to September 6, 2013. In that position, Napolitano oversaw several DHS agencies responsible for controlling illegal immigration, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Citizenship and Immigration Services, which replaces the old Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).
Prior to that, Napolitano was governor of Arizona, a state that has also been besieged by illegal immigrants, from 2003 to 2009.
That Napolitano moved seamlessly from a position responsible for enforcing our immigration laws to a position that helps administer loans to students who are in violation of those laws sheds light on a large part of our illegal immigration problem: namely, the lack of will to enforce our laws.
The bill just signed by the governor, SB 1210, establishes the California Student Education Access Loan Program (SEAL) at CSU and UC and expands access to funding by allowing AB 540 students the opportunity to apply for student loans under SEAL.
What is AB 540? It is a state law signed by former Governor Gray Davis on October 12, 2001 that created a new exemption from the payment of non-resident tuition for certain non-resident students who attended high school in California and received a high school diploma or its equivalent. The listed requirements state that the applicant “must file or will file an affidavit as required by individual institutions, stating that the filer will apply for legal residency as soon as possible.”
The above requirements presume, therefore, that the applicant is not a legal resident at the time of the application.
While AB 540 exempted illegal aliens graduating from California high schools (where their secondary education was also paid for by the taxpayers) to qualify for resident tuition rates at California state colleges, SB 1210, as we have seen, takes things a step further and allows them to qualify for state-funded student loans, as well.
In addition to SB 1210, Brown signed SB 1159, which will allow illegal immigrants to apply for professional state licenses to work as doctors, dentists, nurses, and in other professions. And a third bill allocates $3 million for non-profit organizations to legally represent minors in their deportation cases. Another bill that Brown signed on the 27th prohibits local law-enforcement officials from detaining immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally longer than necessary to resolve their cases for minor crimes so that federal immigration authorities can take custody of them.
KXTV noted that in 2011, Brown signed the California Dream Act into law, allowing children brought into the United States illegally while under the age of 16 to apply for student financial aid.
Last year, Brown also approved a bill that will grant driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.
Opponents have stated the obvious — that these laws will only attract more immigrants to illegally cross the border and use California resources, putting a greater burden on Golden State taxpayers.
An article in USA Today last November reporting the results of an extensive survey of every state conducted by the research firm 24/7 Wall St., found that California is the worst-run state in the nation. The rankings were established by weighing three factors: debt per capita, budget deficit, and unemployment. California’s debt per capita was $3,990 (20th highest), its budget deficit was 27.8 percent (third largest), and its unemployment rate of 10.5 percent was second highest.
With such a poor fiscal record, California can ill afford to be granting special financial privileges to illegal aliens, who, by placing demands on the state’s educational, healthcare, and law-enforcement resources for years, have undoubtedly contributed greatly to its current economic woes.
Related articles:
More Illegal Alien Children Coming Soon, Predicts Think Tank Spokesman
Estimated Cost of Educating New Illegal Children at $760 Million
Illegal Immigrant Kids May Overwhelm U.S. Schools
Illegal Immigrant Children Fail to Show at Immigration Hearings
Relocation of Illegal Immigrant Minors Stirs Negative Reaction
Feds Sending Illegal Immigrant Minors to States Without Notice
Texas Sheriff: Groups of Armed Illegal Immigrants in His County
DHS: Flow of Illegal Immigrants Encouraged by U.S. Failure to Deport
