Bill: financial aid to illegal immigrant students

A Washington state bill is being debated to give financial aid to illegal immigrant kids who have been here most of their lives and have gotten their education in our schools. We should help these kids, they will start businesses, create jobs, pay taxes and be good for their communities. DP

By MANUEL VALDES, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Against advice, Luis Ortega and Manuel Garcia gave their full names to a committee of lawmakers when they testified Wednesday in favor of a bill that would make illegal immigrant students eligible for state financial aid for college.

Ortega and Garcia are both illegal immigrants, brought to the United States when they were kids by their parents. They were advised not give their full names to protect themselves from deportation. But they were two of a half dozen students who came forward and spoke openly.

"We're not asking for a free pass, all I'm asking for is sharing with you the American dream," Ortega, an 18-year-old University of Washington student, told lawmakers in the House Higher Education Committee.

Under a bill being considered here, students like Ortega and Garcia would be eligible for the state's main financial aid program. The proposal would expand the state needs grant program, which provided around $182 million in financial aid for 72,000 students in fiscal year 2008.

The proposal comes at a time when hostile feelings toward illegal immigration - and even legal immigration - are heightened in a deeply troubled economy, and as the federal government continues a crackdown on illegal immigration, breaking records for deportations.

Several people spoke against the bill, echoing many well-known arguments, saying that illegal immigrants cost the American economy, and that lawmakers should be worried about providing education to Americans.
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