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Beneficiaries of a program that shields the children of undocumented immigrants from deportation are one step closer to receiving in-state tuition in Virginia.

The Senate Committee on Education and Health on Thursday narrowly approved Senate Bill 1640 from Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, under which recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and other people who have applied for permanent residency in the U.S. would pay in-state tuition rates at state schools. The bill is now headed to the Senate Finance Committee.

The Republican-led Education and Health Committee had defeated the bill in the past.

“To actually be getting traction and get it out of committee is enormous,” Boysko told a group of supporters outside the committee room after the 8-7 vote.

Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, was the deciding vote and the only Republican to vote in favor of the bill.

Before voting, the education committee heard from about a dozen supporters of the bill, including some “Dreamers,” a common nickname for DACA recipients. No one spoke in opposition to the bill.

“This lets a lot of people not miss out on an opportunity,” said Ernestine Locsin, a DACA recipient.