"Everyone doesn't realize that they might be friends with someone who might be affected by this [bill if it were passed]," Mullally said.

HB 1093 is a broad immigration bill that tightens illegal immigration, but Mullally said she is most concerned with what it would do to undocumented students who came to the United States because their parents brought them in illegally. This could be from crossing the border illegally or overstaying an immigrant visa.

"This is a moral issue," Mullally said. "These students are ready to go to college now and have already been given their diplomas. I think it's a basic human right for everyone to have access to education."

Mullally said these students can go to high school in the state, and said she doesn't understand why they shouldn't have the privileges of funding to continue to higher education as well.

"[The undocumented students] are the people that were at your high school in honors classes," Mullally said. "They just want to give back to the economy."

According to a 2007 study by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation on immigrants in Arkansas, immigrants added $3 billion to the Arkansas economy in 2004.

The study found that immigrants used $237 million in state services, but paid $257 million back to the state in taxes.

"State scholarships every year have 10 to 12 million extra dollars that doesn't go to anyone," Mullally said.

Therefore, she said she thinks the state has more than enough reason to help non-documented students out in furthering their education.

Mullally said the legislature wants to double the college graduation rate in Arkansas because the state ranks as one of the lowest states in adults with bachelor degrees, and said she thinks their want and this issue goes hand in hand.

Mullally is the UCA chapter leader for the Arkansas Youth Thinking Ahead organization, which she described as a grassroots campaign of students across the state teaming up together in opposition of the bill. Currently, Mullally has nearly 30 UCA students helping her spread the word about the bill and why they oppose it.

The Arkansas Youth Thinking Ahead organization was started at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville by senior Nate Looney, who previously served as the student body president of the campus.

"During my time as president, I worked with several issues concerning students, but one of the most pressing issues was the expansion of higher educational access to all students of Arkansas," Looney said.

From that, he developed the idea of the organization and it has spread out to several universities in Arkansas, including Hendrix, and has recruited over 400 members to a group on Facebook.

The bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee in the Arkansas House of Representatives in January, and Looney said it is on the deferred calendar for the committee.

"This means that with little notice the bill could be brought back up," Looney said.

Because of that possibility, Looney said the organization continues to watch the bill to make sure it does not make it back to the house floor for voting.

Mullally said she and Looney have been asked to testify for the Judiciary Committee if the subject comes up again, but until then she said the organization is just trying to get the word out to students to write their legislators in opposition of the bill.

Students interested in helping in Mullally's efforts can meet with the group at noon on Feb. 27 in the Farris Hall lobby.