California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed three immigration reform bills that are aimed at helping undocumented immigrants living in the state.

What This Means for California's Immigrants

The three bills have immense implications for unaccompanied immigrant children and undocumented workers in the state. The three bills will:

• Create the State Dream Loan Program
• Allow application for professional licenses
• Provide legal services to unaccompanied minors

The combination of these three services are aimed at bringing future tax revenue to the state by providing opportunity for advancement.

Legal Services Available

Three million dollars has been laid aside to assist nonprofit organizations in providing free legal services to child migrants, especially as many of these young folks are seeking asylum in the United States from violence in their home countries.

It is required by federal law that child immigrants entering the country from a place that is not Mexico or Canada have their case heard in an immigration court. However, since many of these children are unable to afford lawyers, they face an increased risk of deportation.

New Loan Program

The State Dream Loan Program is another way that immigrant youths can be successful in the United States. This program will allocate $9.2 million to state universities in order to grant loans to undocumented students.

Those that are undocumented are able to apply to and be accepted at higher education institutions but are ineligible to receive federal financial aid and many private loans, making going to college an additional struggle.

Assistance with Professional Licenses

The final bill will help those that have stayed in the country and gone to school to develop a professional trade. Those that seek to become doctors, nurses, dentists, and other professions often need to provide proof of citizenship to obtain a professional license for these trades. When an immigrant is undocumented, they cannot provide the proof required to simply apply. The law will require that licensing boards disregard immigration status when deciding to issue licenses.

Governor Brown is known to take a stand for immigrant issues, such as allowing undocumented students brought into the United States before the age of 16 to apply for student financial aid and approving a bill that gives driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants.