Opportunity for all Iowans, regardless of status
What’s at stake:
Immigrants in Iowa are part of our communities; they attend school, open businesses, work, and raise families. Recent positive immigration reform efforts are set to make it possible for young immigrants to stay in the country legally. But now our state has two choices - to lift barriers that make it possible for them to contribute or deny them the dignity of fully participating in our society (like denying drivers licenses).
What we’re pushing for:
The IOWA Act
Right now, undocumented students in Iowa do not qualify for in-state tuition for our three public universities. The IOWA Act is an initiative to increase access to college and increase high school graduation rates by making college more affordable for all students regardless of their immigration status. Under this act, students who graduated from an Iowa high school or received an equivalent degree, lived in Iowa for at least five years, and work towards getting their citizenship would be charged in-state tuition at Iowa universities.The IOWA Act makes financial sense for the state’s budget. On average, college graduates earn nearly a million dollars more in a lifetime than a high school dropout, which means more tax dollars for Iowa.
What we want to stop:
Any attacks on immigrants in our communities by:
- Training police officers in every county in Iowa on the enforcement of immigration law
- Preventing counties or municipalities from enacting ordinances to protect immigrants
- Opening the door for government agencies or public employees to share immigration information with ICE.
- Dampening positive immigration reform efforts that are set to happen on a national level later this year for young people.
<<Return to 2013 Legislative Session
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