While some states move towards legalizing discrimination through anti-immigrant laws, others are attempting to push forward and away from that model. Yesterday the Illinois DREAM Act (SB 2185) passed. According to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) the bill will:

Encourage high school counselors and college admissions officers to receive regular training regarding educational opportunities for immigrant youth.

Establish a privately-funded Illinois DREAM Fund, administered by a volunteer state commission, to make scholarships available to undocumented students at no cost to taxpayers. The bill would also open up college savings programs and prepaid tuition programs to all Illinois residents, so that the families of DREAM students will be better able to pay for tuition. The commission would also monitor implementation of other parts of this law and research the needs of DREAM youths as they make their way through college.

While far from perfect as it actually compels the local government to do very little and falls far short of one of the goals of the national DREAM Act in terms of offering options for legalization, this can be seen at the very least as a nominal victory in reframing how state legislatures tackle issues impacting various parts of our immigrant communities.