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TALLAHASSEE -- Driven by her dream of becoming a doctor, Mariana Castro won a coveted spot in the neurobiological sciences program at the University of Florida. But one thing still stands in her way. A native of Peru who came to the United States illegally as a child, Castro doesn't quality for in-state tuition. It doesn't matter that she has lived in Florida since she was 10, or that she has temporary legal standing under a federal program for young immigrants. She must still pay the $28,548 in tuition and fees charged to out-of-state students, more than four times the...

Immigration activists marched from Chapel Hill to Raleigh on Saturday to demand that in-state tuition rates be given to students who have received a temporary federal reprieve from deportation. Around 40 activists ended the “March of Broken Dreams” with a mock funeral outside the office of state Attorney General Roy Cooper. The protesters charge that Cooper has been silent about whether students in the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program are entitled to the lower college tuition rates offered to in-state residents. “Every day that passes, someone’s dream dies,” said Oliva Prezas, 19, of Oxford, one of the students...

It’s called the Dream Act. At 700 pages it’s arguably too wordy and too complicated, but it’s the first major bill to address the issue of nearly 11 million individuals who are here in the United States without proper documentation. And, before anybody says it, yes, I know, that means they’re illegal. The Senate passed the bill in 2013, with strong bi-partisan support, but it faces heavy going in the House of Representatives. It may never come to the floor. The Tea Party faction in the House, which is strongly anti-immigrant, is adamantly opposed to it. But even if the...

Tears stained Elena Calderon’s cheeks Thursday as she stepped up to speak at Eastern Washington University during a student-organized rally in support of immigrants’ right to compete for state financial aid. “I’m an undocumented student,” the emotional 23-year-old said. “It’s hard to come out and say that. I’m always afraid I’m putting myself and my family at risk.” The graduate student, grateful for the opportunity to pursue the American dream, spoke to nearly 100 Eastern Washington University students, faculty and community leaders to encourage state lawmakers to pass the DREAM Act, which despite sharing a name with federal legislation only...

Once again New York Governor Andrew Cuomo leaves undocumented youth our of his 2014 plans. During the State of the State, there was no mention of the New York Dream Act. A bill that would provide state aid to students in NY regardless of their immigration status. This bill was first introduced in 2011. Three years later and the Governor still hasn’t put any effort into making it a reality. New Mayor Bill De Blasio plans to push for the New York Dream Act alongside the the New York State Assembly [x]. But is the NY Dream Act in the...

Gov. Chris Christie today urged the children of immigrants who came to this country illegally to "make the most of the opportunity" to pay in-state tuition at New Jersey’s colleges and universities under the Dream Act.

Immigration: The Border Patrol and other agencies report a "surge" of unaccompanied minors coming across our border. It coincides with the White House's de facto amnesty via the Dream Act to reward such lawbreaking. The Office of Refugee Resettlement noted a "surge" in unaccompanied alien children in its year-end report last week, pointing out that 24,668 foreign minors in the country illegally were placed in the care of a federal de facto baby-sitting service because no parents were around to care for them. Last year's number was a near doubling from 2012, and nearly quadruple what it was at the...

President Obama and his top Democrat on Capitol Hill appear to have reset their sights on the Republican-controlled House passing comprehensive immigration reform, instead of a step-by-step process, as lawmakers leave Washington for the Christmas holiday break. The president on Friday appeared to urge the House to back the comprehensive, bipartisan immigration bill the Senate passed this summer -- a departure from recent comments that suggested Obama was OK with the lower chamber’s apparent piecemeal plan.

Gov. Chris Christie today signed landmark legislation granting thousands of students who grew up in New Jersey but are in the country illegally the benefit of in-state tuition rates at all public colleges and universities. Christie's signature marks the end of a public tug-of-war over the measure, deemed the "Dream Act", which was pared down in its final days in order for Democrats to gain the governor's approval. Both sides hailed the compromise as a historic achievement. A spokesman for Christie, Colin Reed, said in a statement "the governor signed the legislation privately earlier today, and there will be a...

(CNN) - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday touted an agreement he struck earlier in the day with state Democratic lawmakers that will give in-state tuition for Garden State students who are living in the country illegally. The Republican Governor and likely 2016 GOP presidential contender also pushed back against claims two top Christie aides closed access lanes to the George Washington Bridge to retaliate against the Mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey, who didn't endorse his re-election bid. And possibly hinting at his presidential aspirations, Christie said the man who steered his 2009 election for governor and this...

(CNSNews.com) - At a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said that President Barack Obama should be expanding his prosecutorial discretion when it comes to enforcement of immigration laws. “Unfortunately, he should not be limiting his prosecutorial discretion. He should be expanding his prosecutorial discretion,” Gutierrez said during a hearing on the constitutionality and legality of actions the Obama administration has taken on issues like the enforcement of immigration laws. The president signed a memo calling for deferred action for certain young illegal aliens who came into the country as children and have pursued education or...

The House Judiciary Committee is about to discuss what it calls “The President’s Constitutional Duty to Faithfully Execute the Laws,” focusing on the Obamacare delays, enforcement of immigration laws, and more. As Mediaite notes, the question of whether the president can take unilateral action to cease enforcing laws stretches back at least to last summer, when President Barack Obama said he would stop deporting young undocumented immigrants, an end-run around congressional refusal to pass the DREAM Act.

Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez and local political leaders have held a 24-hour fast to pray for immigration reform and to remember families who are separated from each other at Thanksgiving. “Today we are standing up for those who won't be sharing Thanksgiving dinner with their families and loved ones – those who are suffering because of our broken immigration system,” Archbishop Gomez said Nov. 25 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. He called for a “conversion of hearts” to fix U.S. immigration law. The archbishop was joined in the Nov. 25-26 fast by U.S. Rep....

WASHINGTON — With immigration re-emerging as the topic of focus in Washington, an unusual coalition of business executives, Republican Party activists and evangelical leaders will descend on Capitol Hill early next week to pressure House Republicans to pass their own legislation. The debate threatens to create another schism in the Republican Party and to further alienate a major source of campaign contributions; several corporate executives interviewed this week said they were considering withholding donations from lawmakers who get in the way. The push by conservatives will begin Tuesday morning with a news conference featuring, among others, Al Cardenas, the chairman...

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is planning to release legislation next week that would provide legal status for six years to undocumented immigrants in the United States, he said in an interview Wednesday. Issa, an influential Republican who leads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, described the legislation as a “come-from-the-shadows” effort that would allow the government to do a full accounting of those who are in the U.S. illegally. Immigrants in this new status would be able to travel to their native country while on this temporary visa, he said.

Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) said on Wednesday at the Heritage Foundation-hosted Conversations with Conservatives press event that House Speaker John Boehner has promised him that the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” immigration bill is dead in the House. “I very recently had a conversation with the Speaker and if immigration reform moves, it’s going to move piecemeal,” Salmon said in response to a question from Breitbart News. “And it will go over one bill at a time and if there is any kind of conference, it will be on specific bills we send over. It will not be on the Gang...

Immigration reform advocates plan an aggressive campaign to bring the issue back — and the White House has signaled it’s on board. Can Obama emerge from the fiscal crisis with enough momentum to win the immigration fight? As the fiscal fight roiling Washington nears its end, the White House is already signaling that it plans to use the political momentum it has gained during the shutdown fight to charge back into the immigration debate. And this time, Democratic pollsters and advocates say, they could actually win. The final chapter of the current crisis hasn’t been written yet, but Democrats in...

Over the past few years, immigration reform has been at the forefront of debates in Congress. In both the Senate and the House of Representatives, members from across the aisle have come together to develop bipartisan bills that would change the lives of over 11 million undocumented immigrants. Some in Congress have worked tirelessly to create a law that would provide a path to citizenship for millions, while others have focused the debate on border security. In an exclusive interview with Latinos Post, National Council of La Raza (NCLR)’s senior immigration legislation analyst Laura Vazquez discussed the future of immigration...

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat, said there’s still hope for immigration reform—even in the “dark” times we’re in now. “There are 45-50 Republicans ready to vote for comprehensive immigration reform. That’s a sea change,” Gutierrez said on Morning Joe. “There are 180 out of the 200 Democrats, maybe more. Let’s have a vote. Let’s join with the senators, let’s get this issue behind us. As Paul Ryan said to me one time

A top House Republican says in an upcoming interview that the chamber will take up immigration reform in 2013, insisting that “there’s still time” for a comprehensive rewrite despite the rapidly dwindling time left on this year’s calendar. Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, said during an interview with Univision’s “Al Punto” that top leaders are still discussing when to bring immigration bills to the House floor. Speaker John Boehner “over the last few weeks has continued to talk about the importance of the House moving forward on immigration reform,” McMorris Rodgers said, according...