The Historical Win of Proposition 308: Analyzing the Strategies Used by Aliento To Attain Instate Tuition Access for Undocumented and DACAmented Students

Attaining educational equity had been one of the immigration related barriers faced by undocumented immigrants in the State of Arizona since the early 2000s. In 2006, Arizona voters passed Proposition 300 which prohibited anyone who is not a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident from receiving instate tuition and additional state-funded assistance for educational costs in Arizona (Prop 300 Legislative Analysis). In 2018, the Arizona Supreme Court deemed students under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program ineligible for instate tuition and state financial aid. But it sparked a momentum IN 2018 from Aliento, a non- profit community based organization in Arizona. Their mission was to attain access to instate tuition and state-funded scholarships for all regardless of immigration status. The main goals of this study are to highlight how the historical win of Proposition 308 was made possible, through an analysis of the extensive strategies utilized by Aliento to get it on the midterm ballot and secondly, to inform potential beneficiaries. This study provides a descriptive analysis of the tactics utilized throughout Aliento’s instate tuition campaigns to get Proposition 308 on the midterm ballot and its successful win in the November 8, 2022 midterm election. Specifically, it will apply the Community Power Building Approach to analyze three main tactics utilized by Aliento to pass Prop 308. This study demonstrates how undocumented and DACAmented people in Arizona, who cannot vote or participate in the electoral process, mobilized and got Prop 308 on the ballot. Their tactics were successful in attaining educational equity in the State of Arizona.