Public Universities in California are leading the nation by being the first to provide low-interest college loans to Dreamers. The law making this possible appropriates funding through the California DREAM loan allotment and currently totals a fund of $7 million. Each applicant will be eligible to borrow up to $4,000 for each academic year at 4.29% interest. Like many other student loans, students will have a 6 month grace period before they must begin repaying the loan. Approximately 10,000 students may be eligible to qualify for a loan, which would help reduce the cost of their college tuition and help make attending college a reality for more students. This will come as an immense help to noncitizen children living in the United States who do not qualify for federal financial aid.
Fast for Families Continues
On Tuesday, several immigration activists, who had been fasting for the past 22 days to draw attention to the need for immigration reform, passed on their fasts to new fasters. Democratic Representative Joe Kennedy, one of the seven new fasters, will fast for 24 hours before passing on the fast to another member of Congress. The “Fast for Families: A Call for Immigration Reform and Citizenship” has been held on the National Mall since November 12th and has garnered support from President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, who both paid visits to the group of faith, immigrant rights, and labor leaders.
Although Speaker John Boehner has not responded to meeting requests from the group, he recently hired Rebecca Tallent, former director of immigration policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a move which activists hope is an indication that immigration reform is still likely.