Lawmakers could consider making it harder for ‘dreamers’ to attend Florida universities in special session

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) - Next week, the Florida Legislature will consider action on implementing some of President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting illegal immigration during a special session. As of Thursday afternoon, specific bills haven’t been filed for the special session which starts Monday.

However, two proposals filed for the regular session in March will likely be included in the bills next week. Both would make it harder for “dreamers” to attend college in the state. Dreamers are undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children.

“It makes me afraid and it makes me sad,” Elena Contreras said.

Contreras is a student at Florida International University in Miami. She’s one of the 49,900 dreamers in the state.

“I was 2 years old. I was a baby, a toddler. I don’t have a single memory of Mexico or anything like that,” Contreras said.

For the last 10 years, people like Contreras have been paying in-state tuition when they go to college under a law Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez pushed when she was a state representative.

“It has allowed me to not worry my parents about involving them to pay for my school,” Contreras said.

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State lawmakers could repeal that law this year. The proposal is filed for the upcoming regular session which starts in March.

“Why should Floridians spend $45 million for illegal immigrants to go college?” Sen. Randy Fine, (R) Melbourne, said. Fine is sponsoring the bill.

Governor Ron DeSantis wants to see lawmakers repeal that during a special next week. He said his administration has been trying for years to make it happen.

“No more excuses on this. We need to remove all incentives to come to the state of Florida illegally and that is one of them,” Gov. DeSantis said.

Republican Senate President Ben Albritton wants lawmakers to think about the implications this could have on Florida families.

“If you’re not going to have access to it, you want to plan on it. But if you and your family have built the idea of college around this and you built your budget around this then a sunset would make sense to me,” Sen. Albritton said.

Advocates worry this would have the opposite effect some state lawmakers expect.

“It will mean they can’t go to college. At least not here. Because the reality is it is a struggle to pay in state,” Florida People’s Advocacy Center executive director Karen Woodall said.

Contreras struggled to figure out why lawmakers would consider taking that opportunity away.

“We’re good people here and I think we can benefit the country. We’re not trying to take any opportunities away from anybody else. We’re just trying to live our lives,” Contreras said.

Sen. Fine has another bill in the regular session he plans to file for the special session. That would prevent universities with acceptance rates below 85%, such as Florida State University and the University of Florida, from admitting undocumented students.

The Republican leadership in the legislature has opposed the special session, preferring to wait for the regular session to address the governor’s concerns. It’s not clear if the legislature will take anything up next week.