N.Y. Legislator’s Bill Would Give Illegal Immigrants Access to Student Aid

A bill introduced on Friday by the speaker of the New York State Assembly would give illegal immigrants the opportunity to apply for aid from a state tuition-assistance program, according to the Associated Press. The bill’s introduction, by Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, came two days after the inauguration of an Obama-administration policy that allows young people who were brought to the United States illegally as children to apply for renewable two-year stays on deportation as well as work permits. Under state law, students who are illegal immigrants already pay the public-college tuition rate for New York residents, rather than the higher rate for nonresidents. The new bill would give them access to a grant program for students attending colleges in the state.