California unveils $30M plan for Dreamers

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders announced a plan Tuesday to set aside $30 million to help immigrants affected by President Trump’s decision to rescind a program that shields thousands of them from deportation.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program allows immigrants who came to the United States as children to apply for temporary protections from deportation and to receive work permits.

The plan would set aside $20 million for immigration legal services and send $10 million to public colleges and universities to provide financial aid to DACA students, also known as Dreamers. Of the $10 million, $7 million would go to community colleges, $2 million to California State University and $1 million to the University of California.

The funding is among the hundreds of bills being considered by the Legislature in the final days of its session. The Legislature will also take up bills to create sanctuary state policies, overhaul the sex offender registry, require the state to receive all of its power from renewable sources by 2045 and allow some counties to approve safe injection sites to reduce opioid overdoses.

The last day for lawmakers to pass bills this session is Friday, pushing lawmakers to move the new DACA funding quickly following Tuesday’s announcement.

“We will not let one man with xenophobic tendencies undercut years of progress we have made in California to integrate these young adults into our society and economy,” said Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, in a statement. “California is their home and they are our future.”

DACA was implemented in 2012 by President Barack Obama to allow immigrants who came to the United States before age 16 to apply for two-year renewable permits to live and work here if they have lived in the country continuously since 2007 and were in school or have graduated from high school. Of the 800,000 participating immigrants, more than 200,000 live in California.