Thread: Proposal in Fl to Give Illegals In State Tuition

Bullard proposes giving undocumented students in-state tuition rates

By Patricia Mazzei, The Miami Herald

7:24 p.m. EST, January 18, 2011
For years, former state Rep. Juan Carlos Zapata tried unsuccessfully to get his fellow Republicans in Tallahassee to pass a bill that would allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at Florida's public universities.

Zapata left the Legislature last year due to term limits. But a version of his bill is back, this time pushed by one of his former colleagues from South Miami-Dade, state Rep. Dwight Bullard.

Ten states have similar laws in place, but if past Florida legislative sessions are any indication, there is little reason to expect that Bullard, a Democrat, will have any better luck than Zapata in getting the bill passed in the GOP-controlled state House and Senate.

Republicans, who have tended to favor a hard-line stance on immigration, have wider majorities in the Legislature. Gov. Rick Scott campaigned on bringing an Arizona-style immigration crackdown to Florida. And lawmakers have signaled that, facing a $3.6 billion budget deficit, they will not take up measures that could cost the state money.


"It's got no chance," Zapata lamented. "People don't understand the issue; it's an emotionally charged issue."

Yet Bullard sees a glimmer of hope: "It's not an election year, so maybe they'll say yes to something," he told The Miami Herald at a news conference Tuesday at Miami Dade College's Homestead campus, where some 75 people gathered to support the bill.

Bullard called the proposed law the "Florida Dream Act," referring to a federal bill blocked in Congress last month that would have granted legal status to hundreds of thousands of undocumented students and members of the military.

The Florida bill would not change the status of undocumented students brought into the country illegally by their parents. But it would allow some of them to pay in-state tuition at public universities, instead of the significantly higher, out-of-state rates they have to pay now.

The tuition exemption would apply to undocumented students who attended a Florida high school for at least three years, graduated from a Florida high school and register at a public college or university. The students would have to file an affidavit with the institution saying they intend to legalize their immigration status when they are eligible to do so.

The proposal could mean less money for universities, with undocumented students paying lower tuition rates. But Bullard argued that in-state tuition -- which Miami Dade College supports -- would lure more students, bringing more money to the institutions.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... 7056.story

The proposal could mean less money for universities, with undocumented students paying lower tuition rates. But Bullard argued that in-state tuition -- which Miami Dade College supports -- would lure more students, bringing more money to the institutions.

Really? Where does this money come from? TAXPAYERS susbsidize every in-state tuition student,. You don't want a crackdown because of the budget deficit, but you want to waste taxpayer money on illegal aliens tuition? What BS!


HELL NO!

Illegals should not be in any institution (other than jail). I don't care if they pay or not. If anything when they enroll we need to have them turned over to ICE. Same with High School and lower grades. Non of this anchor baby bull. Illegal parents=illegal babies...period. They all have to go.

This was the headline and first paragraph for the same article I posted:

Little hope seen for state Dream Act.
A Miami lawmaker filed a bill that would allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at Florida's public universities, but it's not likely to pass.


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/18/2 ... z1BS4MCOcf