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.
