By Matt Friedman/The Star-Ledger
TRENTON — Noemi Medina speaks with an American accent. The 18-year-old single mother from Pennsauken went to pre-K, elementary school, middle school and high school in the United States.
But when Medina tried to enroll at Camden County Community College this year, she found herself faced with higher tuition than most other students and ineligible for state financial aid programs.
“I would start, but I don’t have the money to start,” Medina said.
Medina – whose family brought her from Mexico to the United States when she was two — is an undocumented immigrant. She joined several other young people in similar circumstances and their supporters at the Statehouse today to push for a bill advancing quickly through the Legislature that would allow undocumented immigrants who went to high school for at least three years in New Jersey to pay in-state tuition (or in the case of county colleges, in-county tuition), and qualify for state financial aid programs.
“It’s like if you were going to a store and there was a lady in front of you and she got a turkey for $30. Why would you get it for $50?” Medina said.
The group is participating in a nine-day, 130-mile “pilgrimage” to push for the bill (S2479), and for the federal government to enact a pathway to citizenship.
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