Business-immigration group alarmed over DeSantis proposal to repeal in-state tuition for Dreamers
MIAMI — A group of employers, students and community leaders expressed alarm Thursday over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' proposal to reverse a law that allows undocumented immigrants to pay in-state college and university tuition.
DeSantis, who is expected to launch a bid for president, has proposed reversing the 2014 measure as part of a package of legislation cracking down on illegal immigration.
“It never occurred to me in 2014 that we would be convening again to deal with the issue of in-state tuition,” Eduardo Padrón, former president of Miami Dade College, said Thursday at a news conference in Miami.
The news conference was organized by the American Business Immigration Coalition, or ABIC, a bipartisan group that advocates for immigration reform.
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About 40,000 students enrolled in higher education in Florida are considered undocumented, with about 12,000 eligible for DACA and about 28,000 ineligible, according to the Higher Education Immigration Portal. Each year about 5,000 Florida students who do not have permanent legal status graduate from high school in the state. DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, offers young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children temporary protection from deportation and permission to legally work.
The law making in-state tuition available to Florida students who lack legal immigration status, also known as Dreamers, was signed by then-Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican now in the U.S. Senate. Although it was opposed at the time by conservatives in the Legislature, it was backed by a number of Republicans, including Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez, then in the Florida House of Representatives.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/business-immigration-group-alarmed-desantis-proposal-repeal-state-tuit-rcna73102
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