TALLAHASSEE—A sweeping anti-illegal immigration bill barring undocumented students from receiving discounted tuition rates passed its first—and last—Florida committee Wednesday and will head to the Senate Floor for a final vote.
The 51-page measure, sponsored by Republican Senators Randy Fine and Joe Gruters, repeals a 2014 bipartisan law that allowed certain undocumented high school graduates to qualify for in-state tuition waivers at public universities. After nearly three hours of debate, it passed the Senate Appropriations Committee down party lines in a 12 to 6 vote.
"I am sorry that their parents did this to them, but these children did not magically appear in the United States," Fine said, claiming the immigration waivers cost $40 million. "Their parents chose to break the law. And the responsibility that these children find themselves in...is their parents' responsibility, it is not the taxpayers of the state of Florida."
Along with increasing penalties for criminal illegal immigrants, SB 2C would also eliminate a law sponsored by then-Rep. Jeanette Nuñez. That law granted in-state tuition waivers to undocumented kids who attended Florida high schools for at least three years. Under the new bill, these students can finish the current school year at discounted rates but must pay full tuition starting in the 2025-2026 academic year.
The bill is one of three measures sponsored by Gruters and Fine in the third special session of the year as part of a compromise package drafted between GOP leaders in the Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis. The measures, which all passed committee Wednesday, are a result of weeks of vicious infighting punctuated by two special sessions, threats of violence, and soon-to-be twelve killed bills.
On the other side of the debate, Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia joined Democrats in calling the provision a "poison pill." Garcia told The Floridian after the meeting that while she voted for the bill because its other components align with President Donald Trump's agenda, she might not support it on the Senate Floor unless it allows current undocumented students to graduate.
"I don't think that they should put in-state tuition in the same paragraph of some of the issues that we're working on," she said. "When [Fine] said that that's an incentive for people to cross the border—no, it's not."
When asked if she'd spoken with Fine about editing the bill, she said, "I don't care for Senator Fine. You can put that on the record."
