Reduced tuition rates for Dreamers in Florida should be phased out, top GOP leader says

For a decade now, undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children have had the opportunity to receive a more affordable education at Florida colleges and universities under a law that allows them to pay reduced tuition rates eligible only to Florida residents.

That could change soon.

Senate President Ben Albritton, a Wauchula Republican, told reporters on Monday that he would like to phase out the state law that has allowed young undocumented immigrants, known as Dreamers, to pay in-state tuition rates.

It would take some time to determine when the state law should expire, he said. But he wants state senators to come up with a timeline during the upcoming legislative session, which starts in March. The timeline, he said, should take into consideration the plans some families may have in motion to avoid too much disruption.

“If you and your family have built the idea of going to college around this, and you built your budget around it, then a sunset would make sense to me,” Albritton said. “I would hate to speculate on what the right timing would be because there are probably some differentials across the state and different circumstances.”

House Speaker Daniel Perez, a Miami Republican — Albritton’s counterpart in the Florida Legislature — did not respond to a request seeking comment on his position.

The push to repeal the state law does not come as a surprise as Republicans in Florida and across the country embrace more hardline immigration policies, such as President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan. But Albritton’s comments make it more likely that the proposal could pass next year.

This year, Gov. Ron DeSantis sought to repeal the law, saying the state should not “subsidize” the education of non-U.S. citizens. But Republican leaders in the Legislature opted to protect the in-state tuition rates for undocumented immigrants, some of whom spoke to legislators one-on-one to explain how the state law was allowing them to contribute to the communities they grew up in.

Many of the Dreamers who spoke to lawmakers acknowledged earlier this year that the fight was not over and that they would likely have to keep coming back to Tallahassee year after year to convince legislators to protect the in-state tuition law. A bill has already been filed by Space Coast Republican state Sen. Randy Fine ahead of next year’s legislative session to repeal in-state tuition for undocumented students.

Another reason some Republicans opposed the repeal effort is because it is part of the legacy of DeSantis’ own lieutenant governor, Jeanette Núñez, who championed the policy in 2014 when she served in the Florida House. Among Republican lawmakers, those in the Miami-Dade delegation were key in fighting the repeal, state Rep. Vicki Lopez, a Miami Republican, told the Herald/Times in May.

“Although we stopped it this year, I feel like I have to continue to fight the battle to make sure it doesn’t happen next year and the years that follow,” Lopez said at the time.

Albritton voted against the 2014 state law.

When asked on Monday why he was opposed to it, he said: “Let’s start with the premise that citizenship matters. The citizenship of the country is the foundation of all of it.”

But he said he would still like to take a “measured” approach to it.

“My hope, in the purview that the Florida Senate has, is that we approach this with balance so that we are not disrupting families that would otherwise plan differently because I think that matters to them,” he said.

This story was originally published December 16, 2024 at 3:08 PM.