Proposal would give children of deportees lower tuition rates

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As President Obama laid out his plans for immigration changes on Tuesday, one Democrat in Sacramento announced legislation to tweak the laws in California, which already has some of the most progressive rules in the country.

The proposal from State Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) would make it cheaper for children of deported, undocumented immigrants to attend California’s public universities.

If a student who is a U.S. citizen and a California resident leaves the country to live with a deported parent, the legislation (SB 141) would give the student access to in-state tuition rates and state financial aid programs.

“When undocumented parents are deported, their U.S.-born children are often forced to move abroad, losing their state residency, and with it, access to California institutions of higher education,’ Correa said in a statement. ‘Today, these children, American citizens, are growing up outside the U.S., yet their desire to return to their birth home continues to live within them.’

The proposal comes a little over a year after Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation giving illegal immigrants access to state financial aid at public universities and community colleges.

Former Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), who authored that bill, said it would help students who were brought to the country illegally by their parents.

‘It’s the smartest thing for us to do to permit these students to get scholarships and be treated like every other student,’ he said at the time.

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-- Chris Megerian in Sacramento
twitter.com/chrismegerian