Special Guest Blogger Christine Byon is a 4th year student at UCSB involved with the UC Students Association, an organization representing more than 200,000 students across the UC system, advocating for access and affordab in higher education.

In the Governor's response to vetoing the California DREAM Act, Schwarzenegger insinuated that allowing the passage of the bill would be an insult to students who are attending institutions of higher learning within the state. He stated:

"At a time when segments of California public higher education, the University of California and the California State University, are raising fees on all students attending college in order to maintain the quality of education provided, it would not be prudent to place additional strain on the General Fund to accord the new benefit of providing state subsidized financial aid to students without lawful immigration status."

While it is not surprising that the Governor uses higher education as a bargaining chip in an attempt to divide the student community, there is a disconcerting aspect in his message of linking giving benefits to AB 540 students with the increase of higher education taxes. By examining the history of how the Governor has made a plan for higher education, tuition fees have risen almost 80% ever since 2002, the beginning of Schwarzenegger's term of office. For his 2007 budget release last January, he suggested a 7% increase in tuition to the state legislature. It does not take an absolute genius to realize that the cause of "raising fees" is not due to AB 540 students as the Governor states, but from his failure to recognize the needs of students by targeting them first to alleviate the state deficit. There is a twisted tone from the Governor's response when he claims to be an ally to documented students. The truth is, he has never put higher education at the forefront, and continues to burden all students and their families.

Another fact that the Governor failed to mention in his response was that AB 540 students also pay college fees, just like any other student. Schwarzenegger attempts to use the stereotype of undocumented people "freeloading" off the backs of citizens, a common xenophobic misinterpretation. Since AB 540 students are tracked within the UC system, the only way they are even allowed to register and sign up for classes is through paying tuition and registration fees. One of the most surprising facts concerning the availability of monetary support for undocumented students is that even private institutions, such as Stanford and Princeton, offer financial aid to AB 540 students. How is it possible that public universities are less inaccessible than private institutions? A dangerous trend has been occurring within California of making "public education" more privatized and corporate. We must be cautious when the Governor targets undocumented students as scapegoats instead of facing the real problem of his decision to raise fees and cut funding to Financial Aid.