Politics & Government

DREAM Act Now in Hands of Maryland Voters

The referendum on bill to provide in-state tuition for qualified illegal immigrants makes 2012 ballot.

After , opponents of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants have succeeded in securing a referendum spot for Maryland's DREAM Act, according to the Baltimore Sun.  

The State Board of Elections has reportedly accepted 108,923 signatures; only 55,000 were required to get a referendum question on the 2012 ballot.

"Today the voters of Maryland have achieved a huge victory," Washington County Republican Del. Neil Parrott said in a statement.

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The act was supposed to take effect June 1. It would have allowed illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition at public colleges and universities if they met certain requirements; if their parents paid state taxes and if they graduated from a Maryland high school that they had attended for at least three years.

The bill passed the House of Delegates by a 74-65 vote and the Senate by a 27-20 vote.

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Howard County at a meeting in March with the local delegation. Those against the bill  immediately after Gov. Martin O’Malley signed the bill in May.


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