El Vaquero

Issue date: 5/14/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Fabienne Niederberger State Assemblymember Fabian Nuñez talks about the AB 2083, during the April 29, Voces del Mañana event.

Crowds of students gathered under the hot sun, anticipating the next two hours - some speaking among themselves, while others stood silent, waiting patiently for the words that may possibly change their futures.


The Speaker of California's State Assembly, Democrat Fabian Nunez, as well as Angelica Salas, the executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), spoke at the college on April 29 in an event presented by Voces del Mañana.


The two-part event commenced at 11:30 a.m. and consisted of a news conference and mock graduation held in Plaza Vaquero. Reporters from television stations KTLA, Telemundo and Univision were also present.


Student organizations from college campuses such as Los Angeles (LACC), East Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Cal Poly Pomona, and CSUN joined Glendale's Voces del Mañana to become Students for Equal Access to Education. The student alliance, along with CHIRLA and Nuñez, is striving to pass Assembly Bill 2083.


AB 2083, if passed, would do three things for California's educational system. The first would be to open access to financial aid for all eligible students, regardless of immigration status.


Second, a college education would be made accessible and affordable to all students, since AB 2083 collaborates with anti-fee hikes.


Third, private scholarship foundations would be available to all students, including undocumented students.


Salas spoke first, thanking everyone at the campus who made the event possible. She then explained why CHIRLA cares about immigrant civil rights, as well as the educational rights of undocumented students.


"California's youth are California's future," said Salas, as the crowds of students repeated the phrase with her.
She asked the crowd, "Do we care enough about our future? Immigrant youth and the children of immigrants make up 50 percent of the youth in the state of California. Are you going to let anti-immigrant… hate and xenophobia jeopardize our economic, social, cultural and political well-being? So, if we care about our future… then we will get these young people to the finish line by making sure they finish college…when we help them, we help ourselves."

Continued...

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