The winning fight for in-state tuition for all was heroic
The seeds were planted in 2006.
I (Reyna) was 15 when a ballot proposition referred by the Arizona Legislature passed, taking away in-state tuition for non-citizens. I grew up in Mesa and called Arizona home. Yet the words “I am not good enough” echoed as I tried to enroll in dual enrollment classes, only to find that I had to pay three times as much as my peers, even though we went to the same schools.
It did not matter that I did most of my schooling in Gilbert, that I had been part of the honors society or had completed hundreds of hours of volunteer service at my local church. I did not have a Social
Security number.
At the same time in the West Valley, I (Jose) was in my senior year of high school, the first graduating class impacted by Proposition 300. I remembered seeing my mom’s face filled with joy after receiving a letter of acceptance and a full ride to Arizona State University. Later, that same face was filled with sadness once we found out my full ride scholarship to ASU was taken away.
A few years later, Senate Bill 1070 paralyzed the immigrant community. We became afraid of driving to the grocery store, going to school, driving to church – and sometimes our own shadow. We were tired of being told no by our parents: “You can’t go to the movies. Sheriff Joe Arpaio is out there, doing his raids. It’s too risky.”
Thanks to more than 1.2 million Arizona voters, there will not be a 17th graduating class who will have to go through the pain of growing up in the state you love and being pushed away from your educational dreams
“You can’t go to the eighth grade field trip because it's outside of Arizona. It is too dangerous.”
“Dreamers” like us came out of the shadows. We were tired of living in fear. We both received private scholarships and graduated from ASU in 2011 and 2012.
We decided to learn how our government works, how policy is enacted, how to read statutes, how legislative committees work, who are the right messengers for different causes, and how the community can have a voice in government out of necessity.
In 2018, after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that DACA recipients were not eligible for in-state tuition at public colleges and universities, the nonprofit we lead, Aliento, launched our In-state Tuition for Dreamers campaign.
It took years before our vision became a reality. Many non-believers laughed in our faces. People could not believe how we could pass in-state tuition for “Dreamers,” young, undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country as children, in a state like Arizona.
We knew that we had to re-engineer the process. We became experts, not only in policy, but in understanding how to pass bills at the Legislature.
Giving up was not an option. We both felt the responsibility to pay it forward for our students and ensure we were part of the solutions of improving education equity for Arizona. We, alongside students, educators and business leaders raised awareness of the importance of having “Dreamers” pay instate tuition.
It took three legislative cycles to galvanize enough support to refer in-state tuition to the ballot.
After several attempts by Republican
Sen. Paul Boyer and Senate Democratic leadership, Senate Concurrent Resolution 1044, which would later be called Proposition 308, passed the Senate.
We were not as successful in the House of Representatives. It took a special process to bring SCR 1044 for a vote after the speaker refused to assign the bill to a committee.
Thanks to the leadership of Republican Rep. Michelle Udall, Republicans and Democrats came together to have enough votes to put it in the hands of the voters in 2022.
The journey was not easy. It took a lot of us, yet we centered this campaign in the voices and stories of Arizona “Dreamers.” We changed hearts and minds across Arizona.
Proposition 308 passed.
Many of us weren‘t able to vote due to our immigration status or age, but we learned that we can influence voters across the Valley. We went from being afraid of telling people our immigration status to using that part of our story to educate voters.
We used something painful as motivation to find solutions.
Thanks to more than 1.2 million Arizona voters, there will not be a 17th graduating class who will have to go through the pain of growing up in the state you love and being pushed away from your educational dreams.
Today, our state shines for all Arizona high school graduates, regardless of immigration status.
May Proposition 308 be a beacon of hope for Arizona and our nation. When we work to build bridges and center on the people impacted by policies, we can solve today’s most pressing problems.