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Florida Lawsuit Forces Issue of Illegal-Immigrant Tuition Into the Courts

October 19, 2011, 3:30 pm

Three states have enacted policies or laws this year allowing the children of illegal immigrants to pay cheaper in-state tuition at public colleges. Now the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit civil-rights advocacy group, is pressing the courts to get involved.

The organization has filed a federal lawsuit against the Florida State Board of Education and the Board of Governors. The lawsuit charges that the state discriminates against the students, who were born in the United States, because they cannot prove the citizenship of their parents, according to a news release from the center.

“These American students went to the same Florida high schools, held down the same part-time jobs, and participated in the same after-school activities as their counterparts who are granted in-state tuition,” Tania Galloni, managing attorney for the center’s Florida office, said in the news release. “We are simply asking that these students be granted the same rights as all other Florida citizens.” The lawsuit seeks class-action status.

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  • greenhills73

    Ok, so these are not kids who were brought to this country by illegal immigrants and thus truly are not citizens themselves.  These kids were born here to illegal immigrants.  The students themselves ARE citizens of the U.S.  Their parents’ citizenship should not be an issue.  All the students need to do is provide  certified copies of their birth certificates to prove their own citizenship. So what’s the problem with that?

  • old nassau’67

    Not simple. Look at the following three websites, all filled with official Florida legalese. From what I read, a dependent student is not a “Florida resident for tuition purposes” unless his parent(s) has/have “established legal residence in (Florida) by filing  “a sworn statement” “in the office of the clerk of the circuit court for the county in which the said person shall reside”. Many illegal immigrants have, understandably, avoided any voluntary contact with the legal system.

    (1) http://www.flbog.org/forstudents/ati/resrequirements.php: “Florida Residency Requirements for Tuition Purposes”

    (2) http://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2010/1009.21: “Chapter 1009 EDUCATIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS, FEES, AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE”: “A person or, if that person is a dependent child, his or her parent or parents must have established legal residence in this state ……..”

    How does one establish “legal residence”

    (3) http://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2010/222.17: “Any person who shall have established a domicile in this state may manifest and evidence the same by filing in the office of the clerk of the circuit court for the county in which the said person shall reside, a sworn statement showing that he or she resides in and maintains a place of abode in that county which he or she recognizes and intends to maintain as his or her permanent home…”

  • mmaiers

    If the parents cannot prove citizenship, can a the student claim that he/she is a “resident” or that the parents are “residents”.  Would that student who could not prove that their parents were residents. ( as some illegal immigrants have no documents of residency) be force to pay Non-Resident rates?

    As tuition costs go, isnt the question about Residency rather than Citizenship?

  • panhandle

    It is a question of residence not citizenship.

  • 9850698

    Also, students can’t file for tuition assistance using the FAFSA without their parents’ valid social security numbers. 

  • greenhills73

    Thanks, everyone, for the good clarifications.  You are right!  

  • anamariaguadayol

    To qualify for in-state tuition a student (under 24-years-old) must go under his/her parents’ information. American-born students whose parents are unable to have a Florida Driver’s License or a Florida car registration are unable to obtain in-state rates thus making their going to school almost impossible. I know because many of my students — those whose parents are illegal and those whose parents are not in the U.S. are unable to go to school after they finish with me. It is a waste because these are some of the best and the brightest.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Koza-Dereza/100002962596281 Koza Dereza

    It is simple.
    Live in the state for a year. Claim yourself on your tax return. Do not let anybody claim you as a dependent. Voila. You qualify for in state tuition (assuming you are a citizen) Your parents then do not enter into the picture.

    Just because YOU don’t understand it,is no reason to change the law.

  • inbe01

    I continue to find this confusing,  So a student whose parents are not legal residents of the state cannot get in-state tuition, but a student whose parents are illegal residents of the state can?

  • archman

    In Georgia two years back, only a few hundred students could be identified in the state public universities (out of over 100,000) who were illegal immigrants (or children of illegal immigrants).The financial loss from the in state/out of state discrepancy was negligible to nonexistent. And yet, this topic dominated the state political activity for several weeks.

    While I applaud the clarification of regulations, I find that all this recent interest in demonizing immigrant students at public schools little more than cheap political gimmickry. When we end up examining the numbers from state to state, I believe that we will find that the vast majority of state schools in the U.S. lose very little in money due to immigrant students. In some cases the schools may even *lose* revenues, as people that could not afford out-of-state tuition would simply opt out of college.

    I find the entire political discussion on this topic embarrassing and juvenile. Our leaders are basically wasting our time (and more importantly, *their* time) over an issue that is extremely minor.

  • ellis

    So, a qualified US citizen has to schlep at a job for a year and DELAY pursuing a higher education just because Florida puts this very stupid hurdle in front of them.  Talk about a state having its priorities screwed up…

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