Bipartisan bill would allow DACA recipients to earn professional licenses, qualify for in-state tuition

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- To help bolster the state's workforce, a group of lawmakers wants to make it easier for DACA recipients to work and learn in Wisconsin.

A package of bipartisan bills introduced Monday seeks to do that by allowing DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, to obtain professional licenses to become a nurse, teacher, or plumber among other careers currently not available to them.

Another proposal would enable dreamers to qualify for in-state tuition at the UW System.

"As a DACA student, right now, you are considered a foreign student even though you may have grown up your entire life here," said Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera Christine Neumann-Ortiz.

"I still had to pay a significant amount out of pocket, approximately about $10,000 a year," said Daniel Gutierrez Ayala, a DACA beneficiary and legal assistant at Soberalski Immigration Law.

Gutierrez Ayala was brought from Mexico by his parents to Wisconsin at the age of three. For the past 21 years, the Milwaukee area has been his home. At the age of 16 he became a DACA recipient, which grants a temporary work permit and protection from deportation. He told CBS 58 News he's still trying to finish his last semester of undergrad in hopes of eventually going to law school. 

"There was a couple of semesters where I just wasn't able to get back to...enrolling in classes just because I didn't have the funds or the means to get back," he said.

The bill authors, Rep. John Macco (R-Ledgeview) and Rep. Ortiz Velez (D-Milwaukee), touted the measures during a press conference by calling them a "simple solution" to expand access to thousands of job openings.

"These are highly qualified individuals who want to be here even though our government presents them with numerous hurdles to be successful," Macco said. "It's time to get out of their way and let them be educated and contribute to workforce."

There are about 5,800 DACA recipients in Wisconsin, according to Macco.

DACA recipients could also apply for a $250 tax credit to offset the nearly $500 fee they're required to pay every two years, under another bill.

Macco expressed confidence that the proposals will receive board support. The measure was introduced after the Assembly overwhelmingly passed legislation to allow dreamers to serve as law enforcement officers.