They started their journey in the Bronx, at Lehman College, on April 9. Many pairs of shoes and blisters later, 15 CUNY (City University of New York) students, most of them undocumented immigrants, concluded an 8-day, 150-mile walk to the State Capitol in Albany on April 17 with a press conference supporting the New York Dream Act.

The Dream Act (S.4179/A.6829) makes undocumented students eligible for financial aid at New York’s public universities through the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP). Currently, undocumented students are not eligible for state or federal aid. The bill, championed by the New York State Youth Leadership Council (YLC) and introduced by Senator Bill Perkins and Assemblyman Guillermo Linares, was first introduced on March 22, 2011.

One of the walkers, Yohan Garcia said, “The New York Dream Act bill will benefit many undocumented youth like me, who dream about becoming professionals. Among us are future lawyers, doctors, nurses, elected officials, engineers, and business leaders. It can also help New York re-establish a sense of leadership as a beacon for immigrant rights in a time when the undocumented are facing draconian, anti-immigrant measures in many other states.”

The walk is the most recent action taken by Dream Act advocates, who are putting pressure on Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature to pass the bill. 1199SEIU is one of hundreds of organizations across the state that have signed on to support the legislation. After the failure of the Dream Act on a federal level, members of the YLC began the effort to create the New York State Dream Act, which would serve not only undocumented students in New York, but also would send a message to Washington D.C. that the failure to pass a federal Dream Act is unacceptable. Efforts to put the provisions of the Dream Act in the NYS budget were unsuccessful last month.

According to a study by the Fiscal Policy Institute, the Dream Act would cost about $17 million, which is only two percent, of the cost of the Tuition Assistance Program. Dream Act advocates point out that students with college degrees make New York more attractive to businesses, earn more and pay more in taxes, making the bill’s passage a wise investment.