The Senate Bill that would have provided financial aid to undocumented students was vetoed Oct. 13 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to his office.Blanca Oviedo, supervisor of financial aid at Pierce College, was disappointed to hear that the bill had been denied by the governor. However, she was not caught off guard by his decision.”Since there was a bill very similar to The California Dream Act vetoed last year, I was not surprised that it was not signed,” said Oviedo.The bill sat on Schwarzenegger’s desk for several months before the veto was final. Schwarzenegger returned the unsigned bill with the reasoning behind his decision. “At a time when segments of California public higher education, the University of California and the California State University, are raising fees on all students attending colleges in order to maintain the quality of education provided, it would not be prudent to place additional strain on the General Fund to accord the new benefit of providing state subsidized financial aid to students without lawful immigration status,” Schwarzenegger said in his veto message. Hope is not over for undocumented students. Illegal immigrant students are eligible for grants and scholarships that are available to all students who qualify based on academic achievement and financial need.”We do have AB540 that waives non-resident tuition and assists undocumented students, but they have to look into it,” Oviedo said.”I know there are not enough scholarships and grants for everyone, but they need to keep trying,” she said of undocumented students struggling to continue with their education.Marco De La Garza, dean of student services at Pierce, favored the bill. Working with recruitment, he sees undocumented students having trouble making ends meet and also paying for college.”If the bill was signed, it would benefit our state’s work population,” said De La Garza.Many undocumented students came to the United States when they were too young to remember, so it was their parents that made the decision to live here illegally. Many immigrants wait years to become citizens. When citizenship is granted, they are given the same rights as a U.S.-born person.”My mother, Judy, came to the United States from El Salvador and waited 18 years to get her citizenship,” said Juana Delgado, a psychology major. “I was born two years before she came here.”Delgado is 21 years old and in her third year of studies at Pierce. She is able to apply for all types of financial aid because of her mother’s choice, made years ago, to immigrate legally.”It’s really hard to tell them it was vetoed because I know what they want to hear,” said Oviedo. “Sometimes at certain jobs, they offer some type of educational help. There are lots of organizations they might look into. If they take the time to search, then they might find a scholarship or grant,” Oviedo said.
