DREAM Act

UC Berkeley Scholarships to Pay for Undocumented Students

Well this should help some Berkeley students with their skyrocketing tuition. U.C. Berkeley announced this morning that it received $1 million from the Evelyn and Walter Hass Jr. Foundation to help fund scholarships for undocumented students -- the largest gift of its kind in the nation. See also ... More >>

Bay Area's DREAM Act Leader Prerna Lal Responds to Obama's New Policy for Immigrant Youth

Just like the gay community celebrated the president's newfound support for same-sex marriage last month, the immigrant community is now rejoicing in today's news that President Barack Obama would temporarily halt deportations of some immigrant youngsters.It's a remarkable feat for the hundreds of t ... More >>

Days of Rage: Immigrants and Allies Must Fight Back

Minhaz Kahn, DREAM Act Eligible Student, Spared Deportation -- For Now

No deportation for Minhaz Kahn. But others might not be so lucky. ​A DREAM-Act-eligible recent college grad won reprieve on his deportation case earlier this week, yet the celebration ends there. San Francisco-based immigration officials warned attorneys that not all DREAM Act-eligible immigrants ... More >>

Minhaz Kahn, DREAM Act-Eligible Neuroscience Grad, Set For Deportation

Minhaz Kahn is facing deportation on November 18. ​Federal immigration officials in San Francisco are ignoring a June memo from immigration authorities that deprioritizes deportation immigrants who came into the country as kids. In the most recent case, it's affecting a UC-Riverside neuroscie ... More >>

Governor Jerry Brown Signs Slew of Illegal Immigrant-Friendly Bills

​While the federal government stagnates on any immigration reform, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bevy of illegal immigrant-friendly bills that will make their under-the-radar way of life less of a headache starting January 1, 2012. Opponents have already started filing in. Perhaps th ... More >>

Governor Jerry Brown Signs California Dream Act

One step closer to being able to graduate. ​A decade after California allowed undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition to attend public universities, the state is now allowing the students to get scholarships to afford them. At a time when the price tag on higher education is threatening ma ... More >>

ICE Softens Its Stance on DREAM Act Kids, but Still Hazy On Gays

Can Anthony Makk, left, and Bradford Wells get a break? ​The DREAM Act kids seem to be getting a break, but what about gay couples? A memo sent on Friday from the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement appears to tell immigration officers to have a little heart when it comes to enforcing ... More >>

Luisa Argueta, DREAM Act Eligible Teen, Asks Sen. Feinstein to Stop Deportation

Luisa Argueta, center, and her mother, Brenda Gutierrez​Update, 5:30 p.m.: A Feinstein spokesperson says, "Senator Feinstein's office recently received information about the case and is currently reviewing the matter."Original post:A 19-year-old Antioch resident eligible for the DREAM Act is askin ... More >>

Isabel Castillo, Undocumented DREAM Act Advocate, To Be Honored at USF Graduation

Isabel Castillo would like a job in her field already. ​Tomorrow, another class of University of San Francisco graduates will head into the working world. And while they are understandably worried about landing a job, the university will award an honorary doctorate to a young woman who has even le ... More >>

President Obama Douses S.F. Crowd with Brooks & Dunn's "Only in America" -- a Republican Favorite

iPhone photo of President Obama in S.F., taken from outer space.​It was all pretty Blue State in San Francisco last night: President Obama flew to the fundraiser from a gathering at Facebook. He got a ride in Marine 1, the presidential helicopter, and commented to the assembled masses at Nob Hill ... More >>

DREAM Act Leader Prerna Lal to Be Deported

Me, scared?​While President Barack Obama voiced support for the DREAM Act today in Silicon Valley, one of the Bay Area's most vociferous leaders in the national student movement to get the bill passed is now facing deportation. If passed, the DREAM Act would pave the path of citizenship for any il ... More >>

Gavin Newsom: Friend or Foe of Illegal Immigrant Youth?

Friend of students, foe of alleged felons.​Update: Newsom's spokesman responds. Read below.  Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom has come out today supporting a group he threw the book at during his time as San Francisco mayor: illegal immigrant youth. Newsom has sent a letter to Assemblyman Gil ... More >>

Gay Binational Couples Fighting Deportations On Obama's New DOMA Stance

​Gay couples are already using President Obama's new stance against the Defense of Marriage Act as a weapon to fight deportations of their foreign spouses. The couples hope that the administration's declaration last week that the law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman is uncon ... More >>

DREAM Act Debacle: Lowell High School Grad Set For Deportation

Melissa Lee works the cameras​Congress failed again last month to corral the needed votes to put the DREAM Act back on the table -- and the fallout looks something like this: Eighteen-year-old Elizabeth Lee was on a successful trajectory; she had graduated from Lowell High School - the city's mos ... More >>

Michael Savage Sues Talk Radio Network Over 'Indentured Servitude'

Michael Savage is an angry man. ​Conservative talk radio host Michael Savage is trying to dump Talk Radio Network, but claims in a federal lawsuit that the radio syndicate is not taking to the split nicely, threatening him with a $4 million lawsuit for breaking his contract. Meanwhile, Talk Radio ... More >>

DREAM Act Senate Vote Looming For Bay Area Illegal Immigrant Students

Is there a path to citizenship for her? ​With the Senate vote on the DREAM Act this morning being pushing back to next week, Bay Area illegal immigrant students are looking to buoy yesterday's victory in the House into a win for the bill that would give them a path to citizenship.While the bill si ... More >>

FAIR-y Tales

Court Rules Undocumented Students Can Pay In-State Tuition. Great, But a Job?

Waiting tables, Ben. Waiting tables. Wave of the future. ​ The California Supreme Court upheld a law yesterday that allows illegal immigrants who've attended California high schools for at least three years to pay in-state tuition at the state's public universities. Well, that's great news for the ... More >>

Senate Votes Against Taking Up DREAM Act. Local Students Bummed.

Nope. Not today. ​The U.S. Senate today voted against taking up the the defense budget bill -- curtailing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's last-minute plan to tack on an amendment to give illegal immigrants who go to college or into the military a chance at citizenship. The Wall Street Journal ... More >>

Senate To Vote On DREAM Act Tuesday. Local Activists To Picket Feinstein's Office.

​You may recall our July cover feature on young undocumented immigrants waiting for the DREAM Act, a bill that would give illegal immigrants who go to college or serve in the military a path to citizenship. At the time the story came out, many advocates predicted that Democrats would lack the ball ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

The Education Trap

In California, many undocumented immigrants are offered cheap college tuition, only to find they can’t get jobs after they graduate.

What's a Little Marriage Fraud Between Amigos?

It's a felony, sure, but in the absence of real immigration reform, some young, assimilated illegal immigrants see it as their best path to citizenship.