By Chinedum Emelumba
Dozens of students and community leaders rallied at the fountain in Journal Square on Friday in support of the proposed New Jersey Dream Act.
The event, organized by members of the Hudson County Community College, Phi Theta Kappa:Beta Alpha Phi International Honors Society, was intended to help push state legislators to support tuition equity for undocumented students.
“We (Phi Theta Kappa) were asked to form a project [Honors in Action] on the culture of competition, and for our project we chose Economics: To Big to Fail,” said Melissa Ortiz, president of Hudson County Community College’s, Phi Theta Kappa, Beta Alpha Phi. “”We learned that, economically, it makes no sense to deny an entire population the right to an education.”
Undocumented immigrants in New Jersey are currently required to pay out-of-state tuition rates to attend state colleges. The New Jersey Dream Act — also known as the New Jersey Tuition Equality Act — would have state universities and colleges charge them they same as any other resident.
“We were the first (municipality) to introduce the resolution that supported and urged our legislation to pass the NJ DREAM ACT,” said Rolando Lavarro, president of the Jersey City Council. “Hopefully, it will see passage by the end of the year.”
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