The college dreams of thousands of students who are illegal immigrants moved closer to fulfillment Wednesday after the state Senate approved a bill that for the first time would give them access to public financial aid.

Part of a two-bill package known as the California Dream Act, the measure would allow undocumented students who qualify for reduced in-state tuition to apply for Cal Grants, community college waivers and other public aid programs. To be eligible, they must be California high school graduates who attended schools in the state at least three years, and demonstrate financial need and academic merit.

The Senate vote brought relief to Brian Lee, a UCLA undergraduate who was brought to the U.S. at age 4 from South Korea and fell out of legal status when his mother did not renew their visas. Lee, a biology major who hopes to become a dentist, said the chance to apply for financial aid would help him

In a major victory for immigrant advocates, a key state Senate committee cleared the most significant obstacle to a bill that would give college students who are illegal immigrants access to public aid for the first time.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the final part of a two-bill package known as the California Dream Act, which would allow students who qualify for reduced in-state tuition to apply for an estimated $40 million in Cal Grants, community college fee waivers, and other public scholarship and grant programs.

For Javiera Infante, a 24-year-old Los Angeles Valley College student from Chile, the committee action brought her dreams of becoming a Spanish-literature professor closer to reality. Infante, who entered the United States legally with her family at age 12 but overstayed her visa, said her mother works as a day-care assistant but that money is so tight her family often has to choose between buying food and paying for schooling.

The news that the Obama administration was planning to halt virtually all deportations of Dream Act students and possibly their families drew cheers and applause from several students and immigrant rights activists who gathered at the downtown Los Angeles office of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.

"This is huge," said Angelica Salas, executive director of the coalition, which has long lobbied for the measures announced Thursday. "This is wonderful for all the families who are currently facing deportation."

She said, however, that she remained cautious to see if the administration would actually enact what it pledged to do. "If they do what they say they'll do, this is good."

California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law on Monday a bill allowing illegal immigrants to receive privately funded scholarships to attend the state's public colleges and universities.

The bill, dubbed the California Dream Act, passed the state Legislature earlier this month and aims at helping illegal immigrants who have earned a high school diploma after attending at least three years of high school in the state.

"At the end of the day, if we're going to continue as a powerful, equal-opportunity society, we're going to have to invest in our people," Brown, a Democrat, said at the signing ceremony in the library of a Los Angeles community college.

The state law is named after a national bill introduced in Congress last year to give young, undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States for at least five years a path to citizenship through college or military service.

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Governor Schwarzenegger needs to hear from you. Ask him to veto SB 1. Send a fax or an e-mail by entering your ZIP Code and clicking "Go!" below. Then you may want to follow with a call to the Governor’s office at 916-445-2841 and leave a phone message.

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