
Credit:
Think Progress
Undocumented immigrants who grew up and graduated from high school in
Virginia can now qualify for in-state tuition under existing state law,
Virginia’s
Attorney General Mark R. Herring
(D) announced on Tuesday. At a press conference held at Northern
Virginia Community College, Herring said that immigrants granted
temporary legal presence under the Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA) program, a 2012 presidential initiative, are considered
lawfully present and thus able to qualify for in-state tuition.
“These ‘DREAMers’ are already Virginians in some very important
ways,” Herring said. “In most cases they were raised here, they
graduated from Virginia schools, and they have known no home but
Virginia. They might be the valedictorian or salutatorian of their high
school, but because they were brought here as children many years ago,
an affordable education remains out of their reach.