By Jonathan Kaminsky

OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) – Washington became the fifth U.S. state to offer college financial aid to students brought into the country illegally as children, as Democratic Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation on Wednesday to make them eligible for state grants.

Inslee, in signing the bill to provide aid to students whose families meet income and residency guidelines, hailed it as a major victory for “thousands of bright, talented and very hard working students across the state of Washington.”

“I’ve had some good days as governor of the state of Washington, but this may be the best,” Inslee said. California, Illinois, Texas and New Mexico have passed similar measures.

Passage of the measure, dubbed by its supporters as the Dream Act of Washington state, marks a victory for immigrant-rights advocates and a shift within the state Republican party, whose members blocked a similar measure last year. The law is set to take effect in June.

Just last month, Republican state senators had signaled they would not pass the bill but in a sudden turnabout introduced their own version in the Republican-dominated upper chamber that included $5 million to help fund the existing, badly oversubscribed grant program.

The new money is expected to cover 1,200 new enrollees, which corresponds with lawmakers’ estimate for the upper limit of students who will be eligible for aid under the new law.

However, students in the country illegally still face an uncertain future after graduation.

A bill that would have provided a path to citizenship for the approximately 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally stalled in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives.

CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS, MOVING PERSONAL STORIES

Changing demographics in Washington state has caused some Republicans to alter their stance on helping immigrants who came to the country illegally as children, said David Nice, a political science professor at Washington State University.

“Republicans are influenced by the continued growth of the Hispanic population, particularly in Republican areas of the state,” Nice said.

Hispanics made up 11.2 percent of its population in 2010, up from 4.4 percent in 1990, according to U.S. Census figures.

Other analysts attribute the Republican shift to lobbying efforts that featured moving stories of how this financial aid would allow immigrants to go to college and secure a future.

“There aren’t many (Washington state) Republicans who have to worry about a competing Latino vote right now,” said Luis Fraga, a University of Washington political science professor. “It’s more likely that their consciences were tapped by the humanity of the stories that they heard from the students.”

The newly eligible immigrants will face a higher standard to qualify for aid than legal residents, said Jim West, a residency specialist at the Washington Student Achievement Council, which administers the financial aid.

While U.S. citizens must live in the state one year before qualifying, undocumented immigrant students will need to have attended at least three years of high school in the state and have earned a high school diploma or equivalent in the state.

In all cases, a qualifying student’s family income must be below $57,500, or 70 percent of the state’s median family income. Washington state has granted in-state tuition to otherwise qualified undocumented immigrants since 2003.

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Lisa Shumaker and Gunna Dickson)

• Politics & Government
• Immigration Issues
• the state of Washington
• Washington
• financial aid

Vicente was, in fact, crushed by a 27.43-point margin, reports The College Fix.

The final tally in the runoff for student council president at North Carolina’s flagship taxpayer-funded university was 2,681 votes for Vicente (35.47 percent) and 4,760 votes (62.9 percent) for his opponent, U.S. resident Andrew Powell.

About 30,000 undergraduates attend the school.

Vicente came to America when he was six-years old with his parents. They entered the country illegally.

He received enthusiastic support from a number of campus factions and began something of a national cause célèbre. Last month, “Desperate Housewives” actress Eva Longoria urged UNC students to vote for Vicente. He also received an endorsement from al-Jazeera.

Leftist students in particular had pinned their hopes on Vicente’s candidacy. According to The Fix, one student proclaimed that the illegal immigrant “represents the Carolina that is fighting back against the political forces that want to make public education accessible to only…upper class white students.

It’s not clear why Vicente lost so handily. He was far and away the front-runner after the first election round with 41.08 percent of the vote.

At the end of the day, The Fix speculates, Vicente likely lost the election because he was famous for his illegal immigrant status but could not translate that status into a meaningful platform for garden-variety students.

During his campaign, for example, Vicente had constantly stressed his personal story but described his platform as “organic and evolving.”

Additionally, near the end of the campaign, Vicente’s platform writer, Ishmael Bishop, publicly abandoned Vicente by way of Facebook, calling Vicente “NOT a transparent character” and someone lacking in “competence and tact.”

Vicente’s platform promised to “continue to support advocacy for undocumented students to have in-state tuition” — a policy public universities in many states are adopting.

Other aspects of Vicente’s program included battling sexual assault and supporting the interests of UNC students within the larger UNC system.

Powell promised to do what the student government can to address perpetually rising tuition and fees. He also discussed more mundane local concerns that affect students’ lives such as, for example, a municipal law limiting the number of roommates a person can have.

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• Education

Madrid (AFP) – A wave of around 250 African migrants on Monday managed to breach the high defences of the Spanish enclave of Melilla in Morocco, with more than half making it into the EU territory, officials said.

“Around 150 sub-Saharan immigrants succeeded in entering Melilla after launching a massive border assault,” the local Spanish government representative’s office said.

Most of the immigrants were believed to be from Cameroon. Five of them suffered concussion or possible bone breaks or sprains and were being treated in hospital.

Melilla, and another Spanish enclave in Morocco, Ceuta, are frequently targeted by hundreds of illegal immigrants seeking refuge status or better lives in the European Union.

Fatalities have occurred, as on February 6 when 14 migrants died trying to swim past a beach barrier to get into Ceuta.

The Spanish territories are surrounded by wire fencing topped in places with razor wire. Melilla has three layers of fences standing six metres (20 feet) high.

Morocco’s state MAP news agency reported that eight migrants cut by razor wire were treated in a hospital in the nearest Moroccan town of Nador, and that around 60 migrants were apprehended.

• Politics & Government
• Immigration Issues
• Morocco

Madrid (AFP) – A wave of around 250 African migrants on Monday managed to breach the high defences of the Spanish enclave of Melilla in Morocco, with more than half making it into the EU territory, officials said.

“Around 150 sub-Saharan immigrants succeeded in entering Melilla after launching a massive border assault,” the local Spanish government representative’s office said.

Most of the immigrants were believed to be from Cameroon. Five of them suffered concussion or possible bone breaks or sprains and were being treated in hospital.

Melilla, and another Spanish enclave in Morocco, Ceuta, are frequently targeted by hundreds of illegal immigrants seeking refuge status or better lives in the European Union.

Fatalities have occurred, as on February 6 when 14 migrants died trying to swim past a beach barrier to get into Ceuta.

The Spanish territories are surrounded by wire fencing topped in places with razor wire. Melilla has three layers of fences standing six metres (20 feet) high.

Morocco’s state MAP news agency reported that eight migrants cut by razor wire were treated in a hospital in the nearest Moroccan town of Nador, and that around 60 migrants were apprehended.

• Politics & Government
• Immigration Issues
• Morocco