TRENTON — Students who grew up in New Jersey but are in the country illegally will soon be able to pay in-state tuition at its public colleges and universities.



After weeks of feuding between Republican Gov. Chris Christie and Democrats who control the Legislature over the so-called "DREAM Act," the two sides reached a breakthrough today and agreed to a compromise.

“I’m overwhelmed with joy,” said state Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), the bill’s sponsor, as she fought back tears. Ruiz and state Senate leaders announced the deal at a press conference this morning, surrounded by students donning cap and gown outfits.

Christie today plans to sign legislation that would allow unauthorized immigrants who graduated high school in New Jersey after attending for at least three years to be eligible for the lower in-state rates at public higher educational institutions, including in-county rates at community colleges.

But first, he'll conditionally veto the bill (S2479) the state Assembly plans to send him this afternoon. Christie will strike a provision that would make the students eligible for state financial aid programs, including Tuition Aid Grants (TAG). Democrats have agreed to concur with the conditional veto, sending it once again to Christie for his signature.

“The only piece of this bill that didn’t survive is the TAG Grant,” said Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester).”I’m disappointed with that, but I still view this as a victory for young people who are Americans in everything but on paper.”

Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen), the bill’s sponsor in the lower house, had already said he was open to the compromise, but Sweeney had said he didn’t think Democratic senators would go along with it.

Getting the bill done before January is important, supporters said, so the students could pay the in-state rates starting next semester.



The compromise brings to a close an especially tense period between Christie, the Legislature and immigrant advocates.



While courting Hispanic votes during his re-election campaign, Christie said he supported the concept of "tuition equality." But he did not elaborate on what he meant until the bill began rapidly advancing through the Legislature. Then, he took issue with several parts of the bill, including the financial aid eligibility.

Immigrant advocates accused Christie of going back on his word, saying he could have raised those concerns earlier. They alleged he was looking for a way out of supporting the measure.

Christie also said he opposed part of the bill that would allow out-of-state students who went to high school in New Jersey to pay in-state tuition rates, regardless of their immigration status, and that he wanted the bill only to apply to students who came to the country by 2012. Sweeney, however, said he will not alter the bill any further.

Lawmakers vowed that they would continue to push to make the students eligible for state financial aid.

“We will not stop the quest to make this completely equal,” Sweeney said.

Giancarlo Tello, whose parents brought him in the country illegally when he was six-years-old, said he had to drop out of Rutgers-Newark because he couldn’t keep up with the out-of-state tuition rates.

“I’ll finally be able to go back to school,” Tello, 23, said.

But Tello – who helps lead an organization that fought for the bill, said they’re “begrudgingly” accepting compromise and faulted Christie for not agreeing to sign the whole bill.

“We are going to remember our friends who stood by us,” Tello said. “And we’ll remember those who thought we only deserve crumbs, such as Gov. Christie, and we’re not going to forget that. And we’re going to come back next year.”

Ruiz said they’ll continue to work on the financial aid portion.

“The reality is the administration will change in four years,” she said.

Then Sweeney jumped in: “If not sooner.”

The Office of Legislative Services said that because there is no reliable data for the number of unauthorized immigrant students in New Jersey schools, it was "unable to project the potential reduction in tuition revenue if students were paying in-State tuition rather than out-of-State tuition."

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