A group of about 100 English as a Second Language students from Renton Technical College will travel to Olympia Thursday to rally for benefits and services for immigrants and refugees that have been proposed for cuts.

Washington State Refugee and Immigrant Legislative Day is Thursday.

As part of the day’s rally there will be speeches and a Vietnamese dance. RTC Instructor Sandy Stevens-Theizen, four of her ESL students and Elizabeth Falconer, a curriculum and technology specialist, will meet with Sen. Margarita Prentice, who represents Renton.

The students are calling for money to be restored to the LEP Pathway program that allows many immigrants to acquire the skills they need to become productive citizens. They want $3 million restored to the program.

They also want funding for naturalization service programs to be restored. Eliminating funding makes immigrants rely on state support and not federal funds, according to the group’s literature.

“People often tend to think that immigrants cost us a lot,” said Falconer. “In reality, if they are given basic support, they ultimately give back much more than they receive, as citizens, parents and workers. But if that basic support is taken away, we all lose.”

The rally begins at 11:30 a.m. on the capitol steps.