Cal State Long Beach students were invited to a “call-in” in open support of AB-131, the second half of the California Dream Act that went unsigned by Gov. Jerry Brown, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach on Aug. 24.
AB-131 would complement its counterpart AB-130 by allowing undocumented students access to the same financial aid opportunities that other students have. AB-131 allows them access to privatized funding and was signed earlier this month.
“Everyone is saying that we already passed the Dream Act,” said Julio Salgado, an undocumented former journalism major at CSULB. “But the real deal is AB-131 because it would allow undocumented students to tap into financial aid. For every call we make, the opposition is still making calls. We are holding people accountable.”
The call-in, sponsored by the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition, was part of the online campaign at freeab131.com — an effort to equalize the opportunity gap between American students and undocumented students.
Tuition paid by students pays into financial aid opportunities that undocumented students cannot take advantage of.
While many students work part-time jobs to pay off their ever-increasing student fees, undocumented students lack the luxury of being able to find a job, and those that do must settle for very limited options.
“I already graduated,” Salgado said. “I know what it’s like to be washing dishes and studying for finals. I hope [future generations] don’t have to go through these jobs to finish school.”
Senior women’s studies and political science major Marlene Montañez expressed a similar concern for incoming students, believing that their experience would be even more desperate than her own.
“I only have three more semesters at CSULB, but I think [AB-131] is most important to the future generation,” Montañez said. “With the tuition increases, it’s going to keep getting harder to pay for school. We hope AB-131 is going to pass in a couple weeks.”
Montañez, a member of Future Underrepresented Educated Leaders at CSULB, said that the call-in was a positive event for herself and her fellow undocumented students.
“There is usually not a lot of voice from the immigrant community,” Montañez said, “So making these calls is giving us a voice.”
At the time of the call-in, AB-131 was waiting to move out of the Appropriations Committee. Students called members of the committee in order to convince them to move ahead with the bill’s approval.
On average, 26,000 undocumented students graduate from California high schools. AB-131 passed in the Appropriations Committee on Aug. 25.
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