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State Democratic lawmakers this week announced an effort to extend health care, legal rights and business protections to immigrants living in California illegally.

Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins of San Diego, and Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles were among the Democrats who proposed 10 bills. They call their effort the "Liberty and Justice" package.

The package includes a bill by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego to protect immigrants from scams. Other proposals include expanding Medi-Cal coverage and establishing an office to help immigrants living in the state illegally with naturalization services.

Andrea Guerrero, executive director of Alliance San Diego, told KPBS the state could lead the way in immigration reform with this package of bills.

This is a welcomed package that supports, protects and integrates immigrant families, Guerrero told KPBS Midday Edition on Thursday. We cant afford otherwise. Its humane. Its compassionate.

But Joe Guzzardi, national media director for Californians for Population Stabilization, said offering protections would encourage more illegal immigration.

The reason the immigration system is broken because none of the laws have been enforced, Guzzardi said. Were totally opposed to the bills. Its another outreach to illegal immigrants. Its another reward to illegal immigrants.

The state majority's effort was announced the same week a federal judge refused to lift a temporary hold on President Barack Obama's executive action that would protect millions of immigrants from deportation.

Link:
How Californias Proposed Immigration Bills May Impact San Diego

Immigration reform supporters are celebrating a decision by Emory University to provide aid for undocumented students.

Emory University now offers scholarships to students who qualify under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals guidelines.

The university released the following statement:

"...As a private institution, Emory will use private, non-governmental resources to offer university scholarship support to these qualified students, beginning with the class entering this fall."

Andy Kim, a senior at Emory and co-founder of "Freedom at Emory," says this decision is long overdue.

"I didn't see it being fair that my peers who were smarter than me, and qualified to go to school were not able to," Kim said.

D.A. King, an anti-immigration activist, tells Channel 2 Action News he disagrees.

"I think emory has made the predictable decision to reward illegal immigration to demonstrate how morally superior they are at the cost of people who have obeyed our immigration laws," King said.

State rules bar undocumented students from attending some of Georgia's top universities.

The rules also prohibit immigrants without legal status from paying in-state tuition at other schools.

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Emory University to give scholarships to undocumented students

Child Poverty Immigration Reform March
Child Poverty Immigration Reform March March 28, 2015.

By: United University Church

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Child Poverty & Immigration Reform March - Video

IMMIGRATION: State bills seek healthcare, other services for migrants

Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, left, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Len, D-Los Angeles, and Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, at a 2014 news conference. The three are among the sponsors of immigration-related legislation unveiled Tuesday.

, RICH PEDRONCELLI, AP FILE PHOTO

Legislative Democrats Tuesday unveiled 10 immigration-related bills. Here's a description of the measures, in the words of their proponents. To read the bills in their entirety, go to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov.

Senate Bill 10 (introduced by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens) Office of New Americans: Establishes the California Office of New Americans within the Governor's office to ensure that California has a comprehensive approach to immigrant integration, including coordinating multi-agency, multi-sector efforts on immigration relief options, naturalization services, and civic engagement efforts.

Senate Bill 4 (Lara) Health Care for All: Extends access to healthcare coverage to all Californians, regardless of immigration status. The bill will expand Medi-Cal to include individuals who would qualify for enrollment in the program based on their income but who are denied based on their immigration status.

Assembly Bill 622 (Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, D-West Covina) Protecting Immigrant Workers from Unscrupulous Employers: Strengthens state Labor Code protections for all workers by limiting misuse of E-Verify and creating penalties for abuse by unscrupulous employers. SB 600 (Pan) Civil Rights Protection for California's Immigrants: Addresses ongoing discrimination against immigrants by amending the Unruh Civil Rights Act to make it unlawful for business establishments to discriminate against a person on the basis of their immigration status, citizenship, or language.

AB 60(Assembywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego) Thwarting Immigration Services Fraud: Protects Californians from immigration attorneys and consultants demanding advanced payment for services related to pending immigration reform acts, such as President Obama's executive actions. It also requires service providers to furnish to the client a toll free 1-800 number that can be called to report the practitioner to the State Bar of California in cases of fraud. Justice for All

SB 674(Senator Kevin De Len, D-Los Angeles, and Toni Atkins, D-San Diego) Immigrant Victims of Crime Equity Act: Ensures all immigrant victims of crime in California have the opportunity to apply for the federal Victim of Crime Visa (U-Visa) if they were victims of a qualifying crime and have been helpful in the investigation or prosecution of that crime.

AB 899(Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael) Juvenile Confidentiality: Protects immigrant children by safeguarding their records from unauthorized disclosure to federal immigration officials that may result in a child's deportation.

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IMMIGRATION: State bills seek healthcare, other services for migrants

Click photo to enlarge

Immigration reform activists, from left, Martha Campos (LUNA) , Father Jon Pedigo (Our Lady of Guadalupe parish), and Geraldo Dominguez (UFCW) block traffic in protest near the Mi Pueblo Market off East Bayshore Road in East Palo Alto, Calif., on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014. (LiPo Ching/Bay Area News Group)

SACRAMENTO -- Slamming the Republican Congress for dropping the ball on immigration reform, Democratic legislative leaders on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping package of bills that would dramatically expand protections for illegal immigrants far beyond what's offered by any other state.

The 10 pieces of legislation would offer state-subsidized health care coverage to the undocumented poor, make it illegal for businesses to discriminate against customers based on their immigration status or the language they speak, and make it harder for federal authorities to deport immigrants living here illegally.

Calling the bills a direct response to Congress' "intellectual laziness" and "lack of work ethic" on the issue, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Len said the legislation is needed because deficiencies in state law unfairly limit the potential of immigrants -- both those who are here legally and those who are not.

"Our food, our clothing, our music, art and technology -- these are industries central to California's advancement, and they're all driven by immigrants," the Los Angeles Democrat said at a Sacramento news conference at which he unveiled the legislative package on a stage packed with other Democrats and immigration reform advocates.

Taken together, the proposals solidify California's reputation as a national leader on immigration policy, political experts said Tuesday. But groups opposing illegal immigration vowed to fight the bills.

"These proposals are the latest in a seemingly endless set of legislation designed to make illegal immigration a more comfortable thing," said Joe Guzzardi, national media director for Californians for Population Stabilization. "People living in Mexico and Central America are only going to want to come here more."

The biggest hurdle, however, may prove to be the legislative package's price tag.

"Californians at this point are strongly inclined to support undocumented immigrants," said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California. But "they become less enthusiastic about supporting undocumented immigrants when it comes to writing checks."

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Illegal immigration: California Democrats unveil far-reaching package of bills aimed at helping newcomers