Malloy: ​“I’m Betting On Maria”

A governor and a high school senior — both the progeny of ​“illegal immigrants” — met at Wilbur Cross High School Thursday afternoon. The governor signed a bill that will allow the student to go to college.

The occasion was the celebration of a new Connecticut law, a version of the so-called ​“DREAM Act,” to allow children of undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at Connecticut colleges and universities, as long as they have spent four years in — and graduated from — a Connecticut high school.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy was in town for a ceremonial ​“signing” of the bill, following his official signing on June 13.

He was joined by Maria Praeli, a high school student from New Milford, who will now have the chance to go to college because of the new law. Praeli came to Connecticut from Peru when she was 5 years old.

Malloy told the crowd of media and supporters that he, like Praeli, is the product of ​“illegal immigrants.” He descends from Irish immigrants who likely came into the country illegally from Canada, he said.

Thursday’s event was a chance for celebration for the bill’s supporters. Chief among them was a grassroots group called CT Students for a Dream. (Check out the group’s Facebook page here.) Other supporters included members of a group called Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut (CONECT). The interfaith organization of 30 congregations from New Haven and Fairfield counties lobbied for the bill. The group did so thanks in part to an outspoken High School in the Community student named Karen.

By speaking out about her experience as an Ecuadorian immigrant, Karen helped galvanize disparate congregations who then lobbied hard to have the bill passed. Her testimony helped African-Americans in Bridgeport find common cause with Latino immigrants in New Haven. Together, they lobbied Hartford lawmakers and helped ensure the passage of the law.

On Thursday afternoon, Malloy and other state and local officials gathered in the packed atrium of Wilbur Cross High School. A cluster of cameras set up to record speakers at a podium in the corner, while high school students affiliated with CONECT rallied in the back beneath a large sign.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman was the first to speak, calling the new law a ​“very common sense” measure that will keep talented and productive young people in the state. She thanked Mayor John DeStefano, who she said had a prior commitment.

Praeli spoke about coming to the U.S. as a 5‑year-old, abandoning Spanish for English, and growing up American. Then it came time for college applications, and the ​“sky is the only limit message” from her teachers came ​“shattering down.” She found she couldn’t afford college since she couldn’t get in-state tuition as an undocumented immigrant.

But now, it’s a ​“new day,” Praeli said. She said her ​“dreams are more possible” because of the new law.

New Haven State Rep. Juan Candelaria and State Sen. Martin Looney offered and accepted congratulations on the new law.

Like Wyman, Gov. Malloy called the law ​“plain common sense.” It will open a door for immigrant children, who did not choose to come to this country, he said. ​“They did nothing wrong.”

While ​“we must control our borders,” we must also accept that a large portion of the state’s current populations comprises children of undocumented immigrants, Malloy said. They ​“dream in the same colors we dream in.”

“This is a great day to celebrate,” he said, to applause. ​“We are celebrating a new generation of people who … will repay us many times over.”

Malloy mentioned his own genealogical research, which showed the some branches of his family tree came from Ireland by way of Canada. It’s likely that his grandparents or great-grandparents were illegal immigrants, he said. ​“I somehow have found a way to contribute. I’m betting on Maria.”

A ceremonial signing followed, with Praeli receiving the first pen.

“I’m ecstatic for the opportunity these young people will have to contribute,” said Father Jim Manship of Fair Haven’s St. Rose of Lima Church, one of the co-chairs of CONECT.

Pastor Anthony Bennett of Bridgeport’s Mt. Aery Baptist Church, the other co-chair, drew a connection with the Civil Rights movement. He said the bill signing represents the ​“continuing expression of the movement.”

Karen’s Contribution

Absent at the ceremony, but instrumental to the passage of the bill, was an 18-year-old named Karen, the outspoken New Haven high school student.

Last year Karen started telling church groups the story of how she might not be able to go to college because she was born in Ecuador, even though she grew up in New Haven. Her story helped spark grassroots action that led to the governor’s visit to town Thursday.

Karen, who asked that her photograph and last name not be published, will benefit directly from the new law.

For a decade after she came to New Haven from Ecuador with her parents, Karen didn’t think much about the fact that she isn’t a U.S. citizen. Then it came time for the 18-year-old to apply to college. She hit a wall, and began to speak out.

Karen graduated this year from High School in the Community. She will now be able to afford to pursue her dream of becoming a kindergarten teacher. That’s partly because she worked hard over the past year to teach others about the obstacles she faces as an undocumented immigrant.

On Wednesday, Karen and Jackie Phillips, a Yale Divinity School student working at St. Rose, spoke about the work they did with CONECT, formerly known as the Connecticut Sponsoring Committee. The group comprises 30 congregations from New Haven and Fairfield counties. They are mostly Christian, along with a few Jewish synagogues, and are ethnically and socio-economically diverse, Phillips said. The group has been working together for several years to organize around a number of issues, from education to health care.

Recently, as St. Rose began to organize around the in-state tuition bill, the mostly-immigrant church reached out to the larger CONECT community for support. Karen and Teodoro Garcia Jr., another high school student, were chosen to give presentations on the issue at four ​“cluster meetings” comprising five to seven congregations each.

Karen’s and Garcia’s talks were intended to garner support for the bill, to rally all of CONECT around the legislation. But they weren’t exactly preaching to the choir. People went into the meetings opposed to the bill. They used terms like ​“illegal aliens,” Phillips said, rather than the friendlier ​“undocumented worker.” But they came out unanimously supporting the legislation, she said.

Karen agreed that the crowd wasn’t always with her when she began speaking. She said it came down to unfamiliarity with immigrants. ​“I think that’s because you don’t know what’s behind those doors,” she said. ​“You don’t see who they really are.”

Karen simply told people about her life, and gave them a face and a story to connect with. She told them how she’d come to the U.S. with her family at 6 years old, had grown up knowing she was undocumented but hadn’t worried about it. Until the end of high school.

“When you start applying for schools and see all your friends excited,” Karen said. ​“That’s when it really hits you.”

Karen had to face the reality that she probably couldn’t afford to go to college. Her dad works in a factory and her mom doesn’t work. The family doesn’t have enough money to afford out-of-state tuition.

Pastor Bennett of the Mt. Aery Baptist Church in Bridgeport recalled the cluster meeting at his predominantly African-American church. He said his parishioners were curious to know how the law would affect U.S. citizens, people who are born and raised in Connecticut. In addition to the realization that it would not affect citizens, Mt. Aery parishioners also saw a connection to the Civil Rights struggle, Bennett said.

“Some of the issues faced by students today were in some way faced by African-Americans down south in the ​‘40s, ​‘50s, and ​‘60s,” Bennett said. In both cases, people who were ​“qualified and had prepared themselves” were denied opportunities, Bennett said.

Phillips recalled a moment when that connection was made during Karen’s talk at Mt. Aery. An African-American woman spoke up: ​“So you’re really being discriminated against. Reminds me of another group I can think of.”

Karen and Garcia’s presentations were able to build common cause between urban African-Americans and Latinos, two groups that have not necessarily found common ground, Phillips said. ​“People were blown away by these two stories.”

With CONECT coalesced behind the cause, the organization was able to bring a large number of people from diverse backgrounds to testify before the General Assembly’s Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee on March 15. ​“We had a real broad show of support,” Phillips said.

St. Rose’s Father Manship spoke. So did Pastor Bennett, along with Rabbi James Prosnit of Bridgeport’s Congregation B’Nai Israel. Having representatives from disparate communities helped show that the bill was not just a New Haven issue, Phillips said. ​“I think that made an impact.”

Two days later, on St. Patrick’s Day, Phillips headed back to Hartford to see the committee vote on whether to send the bill up for a vote. They heard East Hartford’s State Rep. Gary LeBeau reflect on the struggle of Irish immigrants when they first arrived in the U.S. in large numbers. LeBeau and 10 other committee members voted to recommend the bill to the full assembly. Eight representatives voted against it.

CONECT continued their lobbying. ​“This is where the power of the people came in,” Phillips said. Members from the 30 congregations made phone calls to representatives who were on the fence, and visited them in person, Phillips said. In the Senate, State Sen. Looney, who attended St. Rose parochial school as a child, took a lead role.

The House passed the bill on May 12, the Senate on May 24. The governor signed it on June 13.

Karen, meanwhile, has been accepted at Fairfield University and waitlisted at Univerity of New Haven. She is waiting to hear from Southern Connecticut State University.

She said she spoke out so that she could ​“get my voice out for different people,” who might not have the support that she had through St. Rose and CONECT. ​“That’s why I went through this.”

“It just opens so many doors for me,” she said of the new law. ​“For me to say that I can actually afford to go to Southern or Gateway or any other state school … I’m not limited.”