TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — It is now day 2 of special session C, and lawmakers are now considering six bills, including one dealing with tuition for migrants.
What You Need To Know
- Republicans in Tallahassee announced a new special session aimed at changing the sweeping immigration bill passed last month
- There are currently six bills being considered
- Some of the key proposals that would be different included the creation of a State Board of Immigration Enforcement that would include the governor and other top Florida officials
Currently, students in Florida pay different rates for tuition depending on whether they’re a resident of the state.
Since 2014, Florida has offered an in-state tuition discount to the state’s undocumented migrants.
Now, today in committee, lawmakers are debating whether that discount should even exist. The committee estimates that roughly 6,500 students in Florida are taking advantage of the program.
Ending the program would come to about $40.6 million in savings.
If the current version of the bill passes, Florida would end the migrant waiver in July.
Under the new proposal, undocumented migrants would be classified the same as out-of-state residents.
“We are going to be cracking down on the young people who were brought to the United States by their parents, tripling, perhaps quadrupling their tuition rates and pricing them out of college,” State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith said of the proposal.
Other lawmakers were more supportive of the proposal.
“This entire bill is about eliminating any type of incentive. And you can go to the educational section where we eliminate in-state tuition. And, but overall, this makes it very clear that we’re cracking down on illegal immigration overall,” State Sen. Joe Gruters said.
That’s just one of six bills that are up for consideration as part of this special session.
Ironically, it was Lt. Gov Jeanette Núñez that spearheaded the effort to get the tuition waiver back in 2014.
At the time, she was a member of the Florida House.
