By David Grant
Christian Science Monitor
Immigrant advocates hope the Maryland DREAM Act could help prime Washington’s discussion of immigration policy, a topic both President Obama and Mitt Romney say they want to address if they win the Nov. 6 election.
Maryland stands alone in the nation as the only state with a high-profile immigration issue going before voters Tuesday. Question 4 asks voters to endorse or reject a law that approved in-state tuition for some illegal immigrants at state universities.
Though 11 other states already allow illegal immigrants to obtain in-state tuition at state universities, no other state has asked voters to weigh in, says Ann Morse, program director of the Immigrant Policy Project at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).
A victory Tuesday could show lawmakers that “not only did the sky not fall, [but] generally speaking it was a well-received move, not just within the immigrant community, not just within the Latino electorate, but generally,” says Clarissa Martinez de Castro, director of immigration and national campaigns at the National Council of La Raza.
