= Premium Content

  • Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Previous

Next

Fla. Senate Panel Kills Bill on Tuition for Children of Illegal Immigrants

January 31, 2012, 11:07 pm

The Florida Senate’s higher-education committee effectively killed a measure on Tuesday that sought to allow graduates of state high schools who are U.S. citizens but whose parents are in the country illegally to pay in-state tuition at state colleges, the News Service of Florida reported. The panel’s 3-3 vote means the bill will not advance, and all but eliminates the chance for any change this year in Florida’s current policy of determining students’ residency on the basis of their parents’ status. That policy is the subject of a federal discrimination lawsuit filed last fall by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In Georgia, meanwhile, a legislative panel heard testimony for and against a bill that would prohibit illegal immigrants from enrolling in any of the state’s public colleges and universities. The House of Representatives’ higher-education committee took no votes on the measure Tuesday, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The bill cleared the committee last year, but the full House never acted on it. The state’s current policy bars illegal immigrants from attending any college that has turned away academically qualified legal residents.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

  • Print
  • Comment
  • ssaulvolk

    Stupid, stupid, stupid. If state legislators think that 11 million people are going to vanish over night, then I’ve got some fairy dust I’d like to sell them. And if they are not going to vanish, and legislators seem intent on making sure that the young people among them can’t get a higher education in order to contribute to the well being of the state, then they are just plain stupid. Talk about cutting off your nose…

  • atracy

    You can’t blame the States for dealing with this issue the way they have since the Federal Government hasn’t dealt with it.  Until there is a path for undocumented students to become citizens how can the States not bar them from higher education?  California is limiting the number of students, citizens by the way, who can attend their institutions.  How fair is it to admit undocumented students when citizens have to be turned away?  I would like the Dream Act to pass, however, it hasn’t.  A State has to look at the bottom line which is undocumented students cannot legally obtain jobs in the United States.  So until the Dream Act passes, why as a State would you spend your higher education dollars on someone who cannot vote and cannot work legally?  I know it sounds callous and insensitive, but financially it’s sound.  

  • 2011phdstudent

    Not to split hairs with atracy, but these students ARE citizens (as is anyone born in the US or its surrounding territories). It makes no sense for colleges and universities to discriminate based on parental status. Not to mention that students (and their parents) DO pay taxes (state, sale, income, etc).

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=67100178 Amilcar Guzman

    We have such a long way to go as a nation. Considering the changing demographic of our nation, how can we remain competitive the Finlands and Chinas of the world if we do not take every opportnity to ensure that we have an educated population?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Antsy-Kuhnwisse/100002159499682 Antsy Kuhnwisse

    Exactly.  They shouldn’t need to pass a new law — this outrageous policy should just be overturned by the courts. Go, Southern Poverty Law Center!

  • jayjones88

    This is the first time that I have read comments regarding this issue and there were no “stupid” comments made, I think everyone made good points. I really appreciate good dialog, people like me can actually learn from it!!! The state of Florida have issues, it appears to be very discriminatory in their legislation. I am still stuck on the fact that people in same sex relationships can be foster parents to a child for 18 years but are not allowed to adopt. Sadly, I am not surprise by this law, I think it is ridiculous for people to have to pay for other people doings. They can’t help their parents are not U.S. citizens, and I do not see how this will help Florida, there will just be more people living below the poverty line and going w/o an education!  

  • cwinton

    Apparently the Florida Legislature feels it is OK to discriminate on the basis on the circumstances of one’s birth, regardless of the fact the people in question are legal citizens of the US, are legal residents of Florida, are eligible to vote, and in 17 more years will be eligible to run for President.  Sort of boggles the mind, doesn’t it?   It’s too bad this bit of demagoguery will require court action rather than the trash bin it so richly deserves.

  • akprof

    Sure you can – these states are pursuing a racist agenda and any other stated reason is merely a specious excuse

  • katisumas

    Ssaulvok, I empathize  with your stance but the proposal is worse than you seem to think.

      Florida is trying to prevent US CITIZENS from attending higher ed institutions.  Obviously, this is unconstitutional but it will take resources and time for this to be struck down (and wasted years for the would be students who might not look to pursue a higher education later on)

  • katisumas

    For crying out loud!  The issue here is not that the state of Florida doesn’t want undocumented citizens from attending higher ed  institution.   It wants to bar US citizens from attending if their parents are undocumented. 

    So why should it stop at that?  There surely are other US citizens they don’t want to attend universities –oops, they did it not very long ago.  I guess the model of discrimination is still imprinted in the mentality of those legislators.  

    It’s unconstitutional and will be struck  down. 

    Do you really think that Florida legislators don’t have more pressing issues to deal with instead of wasting their time on something that will be dead on arrival and that will use up scarce state resources to defend in court after court?

  • katisumas

    You’re right, Antsy, it’s totally unconstitutional, just as not letting black students in was unconstitutional not too long  ago.

  • katisumas

    Good point.  The  issue is very simple:  you can’t discriminate  “on the basis of race, religion or national origin”.  The legislation is aimed at US citizens so it’s blatantly unconstitutional and will be dead on arrival.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Antsy-Kuhnwisse/100002159499682 Antsy Kuhnwisse

    There seems to be some misunderstanding of the article here; maybe it’s mine.  From my reading, it sounds like the Florida legislature is trying to *correct* the problem by introducing  ”… a measure … to allow [these students we've been talking about] to pay in-state tuition at state colleges …”

    It sounds like some posters here thought the legislature was trying to *ban* in-state tuition for the kids of illegal immigrants.  To me, it sounded like they were trying to *reinstate* it, perhaps to avoid this upcoming court fight.

    Am I wrong?

  • nsfchronicle

    Antsy is correct. The status quo is that these students are currently prevented from getting in-state tuition because a minor’s residency status is determined by their parent’s status. Since their parents are undocumented, they basically have no residency status. The bill sought to change that – to say that these students – who are American citizens – if they attended a Florida high school could qualify for in-state tuition. The bill, however, was killed, so the status quo remains for now. Another important point: the students aren’t “banned” from attending college – only from getting in-state tuition. Some establish residency as adults by working for a year and then they may qualify. But it effectively prevents many from going to college because out-of-state tuition is much higher and most come from poor families. 

  • dwhidden

    I like this approach and one other option I use is to embed a class Twitter feed into my course management system, so that even those who are not on Twitter can still see what others are doing.

    In follow up to this post and to Catherine’s response, I want to know the pros and cons of creating a course Twitter account (like her @ct231).  Do you make that disposable as well?  What do you do if you teach multiple sections of a course — multiple accounts or let the discussions bleed over?  Can you reuse it next semester/fall/etc. without annoying old students?

  • http://twitter.com/catherinecronin Catherine Cronin

    I teach one section of @ct231 per year, so will use the same account next year. This actually has some benefits; in a few instances during this past year students from previous years jumped into the tweetstream to comment or RT something. This is just one of many ways that using social media breaks down the artificially constructed barriers of time (semesters, academic years) and space (classrooms) in higher education and helps students to construct their own Personal Learning Networks.

Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.