UPDATE 8/31/2011: The new civil rights/immigrant rights movement must ACT NOW to get Governor Jerry Brown to sign the California Dream Act, AB 131. While campaigning for governor, Brown promised to support a bill that would grant equal access to state financial aid for undocumented immigrant students. Now, he is threatening to veto the bill and may do so as early as September 9th. BAMN is calling for DEMONSTRATIONS STATEWIDE. Sign and circulate the PETITION below to MOBILIZE your school, church, workplace and community!

Our demand is also directed toward the UC Regents, who must pass a UC Dream Act. Follow this website for updates, subscribe to our email list, and contact a BAMN organizer today! We must ACT NOW — time is of the essence!

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GOVERNOR BROWN: SIGN THE CALIFORNIA DREAM ACT (AB 131)!
UC REGENTS: PASS THE UC DREAM ACT!
* No More Second-Class, Separate and Unequal Treatment for Undocumented Immigrant Students
* Latina/o, Black, Asian, Arab, Native American, and White, Immigrants With & Without Papers—We Are All Californians!
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* Governor Jerry Brown promised to enact the California Dream Act when he campaigned to be Governor a year ago. Earlier this summer, Brown signed into law a bill, AB 130, which strengthened the ability of university administrations to raise private scholarship money for undocumented students; however, he is now threatening to veto the bill, AB 131, which would give undocumented students access to state-funded financial aid.
* Brown is citing the tiny cost of AB 131—an additional increase of $30 million to a state financial aid budget of $3.5 billion—as the reason he might veto the bill. $30 million, a mere pittance, is a small price to pay to extend hope, opportunity and a modicum of equality to California's talented and deserving undocumented students. Undocumented students have been the hardest hit by the barrage of fee hikes that are excluding more and more Latina/o, black and poor students from higher education.
* The University of California, which is autonomous from the state, can adopt a UC-wide Dream Act now and extend UC’s Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan and other university-based grants to undocumented immigrant students.
* If enacted, AB 131 and a UC Dream Act would give undocumented students the same opportunity as every other California high school graduate to receive state and university financial aid, such as Cal Grants, university-based grants including UC Blue and Gold Opportunity grants, and community college fee waivers.
* Extending these scholarships to undocumented students would establish the principle that undocumented communities can no longer be asked to contribute huge sums of money to the California economy and specifically to publicly-funded financial aid programs, while being denied access to these programs.
Passage of AB 131 would clear the way for undocumented Californians to receive drivers licenses and to finally be in a position to end the inferior, second-class treatment these communities have labored under for too long.
* Direct mass action by the new student and youth led immigrant rights and civil rights movement will be needed to make Gov. Brown and the UC Regents keep their promises to California's Latina/o and undocumented communities to open up publicly funded financial aid programs to undocumented students.
 
THEREFORE, WE THE UNDERSIGNED PLEDGE TO TAKE ACTION TO:
1. Get Governor Brown to enact AB 131, the California Dream Act, now.
2. Get the UC Regents to pass a UC-wide Dream Act now.
3. Remove the badge of inferiority and end the second-class, separate and unequal status of undocumented communities.
4. Defend public education.

(Petition sponsored by the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Necessary (BAMN).)