FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 26, 2011 - REDLANDS, CA- When it comes to fighting against an unwanted assembly bill, the Redlands Tea Party Patriots are working the old fashioned way - going door to door to gather signatures against AB 131.
The new legislation, AB 131, would give undocumented students in California the opportunity to apply for financial aid.
Opponents are seeking to gather a minimum of 505,000 signatures to file their petition by Jan. 5, because they say the Dream Act disenfranchises legal resident students in a time of deep fiscal difficulty for the state.
(("It's as immoral as it is outrageous," said Tea Party Patriot John Berry, who is in charge of the group's canvassing committee.))
Berry said the Tea Party has a group of volunteers who have gone door to door twice in the past two months to gather signatures.
So far, they've gathered about 1,000 in Redlands, which he said was significant, considering it was done on an unpaid, volunteer basis.
"We get people who can't wait to sign the petition," Berry said. "It's been an overwhelmingly positive response."
In addition to going door to door, the Tea Party has had a booth at Market Night, Stater Bros. and Lowe's in Highland, Berry said.
And it`s not just the Tea Partiers who are against this potential legislation.
"All across the board, people want to sign the petition," he said, noting that Democrats, Republicans, Independents and other members of political parties have signed the petition.
"It's fair to say it's widely hated," Berry noted.
He added that this is one of the first pushes for the Tea Party to become more active in the coming year.
"We have a whole slew of events," he said. "This year, we got our sea legs as an institution. We've learned a lot, and we're going to do more in 2012.
Molly Davis, Redlands Daily Facts
Reach Molly via email, or call her at 909-793-3221.