TUCSON, Ariz. — Prop 308 if passed would allow non-citizen students to pay in-state tuition. They would just have had to live in Arizona for the past two years.
As it stands now, non-citizen residents are required to pay out-of-state tuition rates. It's due to Prop 300, which was approved back in 2006 and stated that non-citizens could not receive certain benefits such as financial aid or in-state tuition rates.
"The opportunity in America is here but having the ability to push the kids and give them the undocumented, a step up or assist which is in violation of our law violation, what the intent of proposition 300 is. I don't see the sense of it," John Fillmore, Arizona House Representative said.
A yes on Prop 308 would repeal Prop 300 and allow non-citizens students who have attended school in Arizona for at least two years to get in-state tuition.
Something dreamer Fernando David Contreras says would impact him for the greater good as he pursues a degree to become a doctor.
"Sadly, one of the things has been a challenge for me has been college," Contreras said. "Since college here in Arizona for immigrants people who are un-documented that they go up to 400% for the price then it originally is for example, for a student at the UofA which is in Tucson, they usually pay an average of like $12,000 per semester."
Contreras who goes to Grand Canyon University says he would have gone to the UofA had he not had to pay out of state tuition.
"So for me specifically, that will honestly make me pay to from 50 to 60%, less than I'm paying right now, and other students and also it will give me like a guarantee that I'm going to be able to finish college," Contreras said. "Right now. I'm a pre-med major and I want to become a doctor. And some things that gives me a lot of like, stressors in life is thinking how am I going to be able to afford."
While dreamers like Contreras think Prop 308 just enables the opportunity for people like him to become essential workers needed in America, others disagree.
"I do believe they should pay out of state tuition because, quite frankly, by allowing them to pay in-state tuition, they're getting the benefit that a kid from Texas or New Mexico or California is being denied," Filmore said.
For more information on Prop 308, click here.