Florida Blocks a Bill That Would Have Helped to Pay Tuition Fees for the Children of Illegal Immigrants

The Florida Senate rejected a legal reform last night that would have recognized the rights of hundreds of North American students. Several months ago, Senator Rene Garcia proposed that some students that were born and raised in the state and also studied at local schools should have access to the same in-state tuition rates paid by residents.

The cost of accessing higher education has been a topic of debate between the Republican presidential candidates in 2012 due to the different positions adopted by each state, since some consider students descended from immigrants to be international students, not citizens.

In Florida’s case, the current law requires that college applicants submit their parents’ documentation, such as tax returns, proof of property, mortgages, etc. When they are unable to provide this information because their parents are illegal immigrants, they have lost contact with them, were abandoned, or have been orphaned, the state of Florida then considers them to be international students despite the fact that they are U.S. citizens. If they want to study at the university, they will have to pay an enrollment fee that is often between three and four times greater than what they would pay as American citizens.

In this way, Florida breaches a constitutional right of Americans. “I really didn’t want this to turn into an immigration issue, an immigration debate,” admitted Senator Rene Garcia, a sponsor of the bill, after the vote. “The intent of this bill at the end is always to rectify a wrong.”

“We feel deeply disappointed by the decision taken yesterday by the Senate Committee that rejected the proposal” declared Juan Rodriguez, leader of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. “In every debate over the legislation we have heard the same anti-immigrant rhetoric, the same ideas that will never help the children of illegal immigrants.”*

Arizona’s Legacy

As Rodriguez explains, the rejection of this bill is not due to a particular stance in Florida but to the controversy created in recent months by the immigrations bills approved in states like Arizona and Florida that have since turned into political arguments: “We don’t understand why this proposal has become an immigration issue, when its intention from the beginning was not to do that,” he commented.* The objective of Bill SB 1018 was to help hundreds of American students, not the immigration status of their parents.

Opponents of the bill claim that the State of Florida should establish the residency of its citizens, in this case the students, according to the immigration status and documentation of their parents, so that it does not matter whether the students are American citizens. The defendants of the bill, however, want to change this condition. “It is unfair and unjust to take away a student’s right to their education based on where their parents are from,” stated Congresswoman Daphne Campbell during the debate over the bill. Several American students raised in Florida also testified during the debate, explaining how the current situation affects them unfairly. “The current bill means that many of these students have to abandon their studies in face of the impossibility of paying the fees,” said Rodriguez.*

Several of these students have condemned the state for violating their constitutional rights. On the other hand, the Florida Immigrant Coalition has already prepared a new draft of a bill that would recognize the rights of all students in the state if they are American citizens, regardless of their parents’ situation. Rodriguez also points out that this situation does not only affect the children of illegal immigrants, but also many young people whose parents do not live in the country due to various circumstances.

The tuition discounts for the children of illegal immigrants has been a central part of the discussions between the candidates vying to represent the Republican Party in the upcoming presidential elections. The Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, who has already withdrawn his nomination, came under attack from other members of his party for promising young people in his state what Florida has now denied their students. Mitt Romney, who is favored to win the primaries, has declared several times that he is against giving benefits to the children of illegal immigrants, while Newt Gingrich argues that American students who are children of illegal immigrants should themselves have access to the same costs as other citizens.

*Editor’s note: Although accurately translated, this statement could not be verified.