For immediate release
Contact:
Susana Flores, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; 240-706-2624, CASA de Maryland
Alisa Glassman, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; 301 648-0542, Maryland IAF (AIM, BUILD & PATH)
MARYLAND GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY TO SIGN THE DREAM ACT INTO LAW
Victory Results of Dozens of Faith Organizations, Educational Institutions, Labor, and Community Groups United With Immigrant Students Organized for a Better Maryland
WHAT: Bill Signing
WHEN: Tuesday, May 10, 2011 at 10am
WHERE: State Capital, Annapolis, MD
WHO: Dozens of Students from Across State, Bill Sponsors Senator Victor Ramirez and Delegate Sheila Hixson and multiple co-sponsors, Casa de Maryland, Maryland Industrial Areas Foundation Affiliates (IAF): Action in Montgomery (AIM), Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD) and Action in Montgomery (AIM), the Maryland Catholic Conference, and More.
Annapolis, MD –. This Tuesday, immigrant students and their supporters will come to Annapolis to witness Maryland history in the making as Governor Martin O’Malley signs into law SB 167 – legislation granting in-state tuition to immigrant students. Final passage of the legislation is the results of a multi-year campaign which included a gubernatorial veto in 2003.
“Today in Maryland we are making a declaration that despite federal failure to fix a terribly broken immigration system, our state recognizes the talents of immigrant student leaders and the basic human dignity of their families,” said Gustavo Torres, Executive Director of CASA de Maryland. “Let’s hope that Washington hears this drumbeat for change.”
Success in 2011 was built on a broad campaign steeped in a rich history of rights and justice for marginalized peoples as well as a recognition that all Marylanders sink or swim together.
“We celebrates not just the passage of the MD Dream bill,” said Rev. Paul Johnson, MD IAF clergy, “but that black, brown, white came together and called the passage of the MD Dream bill ‘our struggle.’ We celebrate that standing for the whole prevailed over the ideology of hate.” MD IAF members consist of 85 congregations, schools and neighborhood organizations in Baltimore City, Howard County and Montgomery County.
From committee hearings to lobbying visits, from rallies to press conferences, directly impacted immigrant students were front and center as the face, voice, and driver of victory. Student participants came from 21 high schools, four community colleges, six universities and members of our area congregations. Immigrant Action Night during the session featured student leaders spanning Bladensburg High School to Morgan State University, Bennett High School in Salisbury and Annapolis High School to Montgomery College. Immigrant students and non-immigrant students alike joined forces in the fight for equity. Students like Desiree, a member of Action In Montgomery (AIM), testified in Annapolis and back home in area congregations, “All I am asking for is an equal playing field. All I am asking for is the same guarantee other Maryland students have—if one studies hard, one can go to college.”
The new law will allow students, regardless of their immigration status, to pay the same in-state tuition rates as their peers. Until now, these students were obligated to pay out-of-state rates, typically double or triple the cost of in-state rates. “This victory is not just for me but for many of my friends who took action and joined in this struggle,” said Jackie, Co-President of CASA’s Youth Committee. “Access to college will let me continue to develop my skill, which I will use to help make Maryland better as we continue to fight for justice.”
Some of the bills many supporters included the Baltimore City Council, the Maryland State Board of Education, Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, the University System of Maryland, Morgan State University, the Maryland Association of Community Colleges, the Maryland State Education Association, CASA de Maryland, Maryland Industrial Areas Foundation Affiliates (IAF): Action in Montgomery (AIM), Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD), and People Acting Together in Howard (PATH), the Baltimore Jewish Council, the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, the Greater Baltimore Urban League, the Korean American Association, the Jewish Community Relations Council, Maryland Catholic Conference, the Maryland Episcopal Diocese, the Maryland Interfaith Legislative Committee, the Maryland Vietnamese Mutual Association, the NAACP of Maryland, the Presbytery of Baltimore, Progressive Maryland, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), and dozens more.
At Tuesday’s bill signing, students, faith leaders, legislators, and advocates will surround the Governor as he signed the bill into law. Supporters will immediately afterwards host a victory party at the Maryland Catholic Conference at 10 Francis St., Annapolis, Maryland 21401.
For more information, contact
Susana Flores at 240-491-5745 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Alisa Glassman, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; 301 648-0542, Maryland IAF (AIM, BUILD & PATH)
