Public aid bill (CA Dream Act) for undocumented students sparks debate in Auburn (CA) area

[pampango]

Local community members have clashing opinions about an assembly bill that would allow undocumented college students to apply for public financial aid, which could potentially cost the state millions more each year.

Auburn resident Stuart Dodge, the education coordinator for the NorCal Tea Party Patriots, said he doesn’t think the bill is very good legislation.... (H)e thinks the bill could end up hurting others trying to pay for college as well as costing the state money it doesn’t have.

“I would first like to say that I think people are missing a lot of what is going on here,” Dodge said. “I have got a great deal of sympathy, for they may be illegal aliens but I have to feel if I lived the way they are forced to live in other countries, I would probably do the same thing they have done. Having said that, they are still here illegally and we are a land of laws. It isn’t right. If you want to come here, I don’t have a problem with that at all, but you shouldn’t have any of the welfare benefits that are given to the citizens of the United States.”

Reyes Ortega, a counselor and history professor at Sierra College, said he thinks the legislation is long overdue. He said with nearly 38 percent of residents in the state being Latinos, California has a responsibility to make sure they can become part of the skilled work force.

“If we look at it from an economic standpoint, this community has a real opportunity to contribute to the economic vitality of California,” Ortega said. “We have to make a decision of whether to employ preventative measures or maybe something more expensive like social service treatment strategies (in the future). If we do nothing … then we will find ourselves having to go down a path that is much more costly to us as individuals.”

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