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Florida Legislature votes to cancel Dreamers' in-state tuition. But is it contradicting Trump?

Undocumented Florida students known as Dreamers march in Doral in 2018 for Congressional action to grant them lawful status.
Carl Juste
/
Miami Herald
Undocumented Florida students known as Dreamers march in Doral in 2018 for Congressional action to grant them lawful status.

The Florida Legislature Tuesday night voted to cancel in-state tuition for undocumented students, known as Dreamers — as Dreamer advocates insisted the move will not only hurt Florida, but contradict the man whom the measure is named for: President Trump.

Dreamers are undocumented residents who were brought to the U.S. as young children. Because of those circumstances, in 2014 Florida granted them the lower tuition that in-state residents pay to attend public colleges and universities.

READ MORE: Senate president suggests phasing out in-state tuition for 'dreamers'

At the time, conservatives like then Republican Governor and now Senator Rick Scott, and then GOP state Rep. and now Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, strongly supported the measure. Nuñez in fact sponsored it, calling it a balance of "fairness with pragmatism, compassion with common sense."

"Let's not hold these children responsible for actions that their parents took, something they had no control over," Nuñez said then. "Let's allow for opportunities for all Florida's children."

Largely as a result of that law, some 40,000 undocumented students today are enrolled in higher education in Florida.

But now — as President Trump pressures states to join his nationwide crackdown on undocumented migrants and Florida Republicans rush to show their loyalty to him — even Nuñez says the decade-old law has overstayed its welcome.

Last month, GOP State Senate President Ben Albritton proposed phasing out the Dreamer tuition law.

At the same time, however, Dreamer spokespersons like Gaby Pacheco, a Dreamer who is president and CEO of the nonprofit TheDream.US in Miami, claim there's a big disconnect at play.

“They’re trying so hard to out-Trump Trump they don't seem to realize they're going against Trump."
Gabriela Pacheco

The repeal is part of a sweeping immigration bill called the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy, or TRUMP Act, that passed Tuesday night during a special session of the Legislature. The state Senate voted 21-16 to approve the bill, while the state House passed it 82-30.

And that part of the TRUMP Act that takes the Dreamer in-state tuition benefit away, Pacheco argues, actually contradicts... Trump.

“They’re trying so hard to out-Trump Trump they don't seem to realize they're going against Trump," Pacheco told WLRN, "because Trump has repeatedly said, ‘We need to do something for these students, the Dreamers.'”

Trump told NBC’s Meet the Press last month that Republicans should be "very open to [helping] the Dreamers." Asked if he wants to see the Dreamers be able to stay in the U.S., Trump said unequivocally: "I do."

Even so, Florida Republicans refused to remove the Dreamers repeal provision from the TRUMP Act.

Cost or benefits?

GOP legislators argue that giving the Dreamers the in-state tuition benefit costs the state too much money, about $45 million a year.

Republican state Sen. Randy Fine of Brevard County this week called it "immoral" to give any undocumented student the same tuition benefit a legal resident receives.

Gaby Pacheco, President and CEO of TheDream.US.
Courtesy TheDream.US
Gaby Pacheco, President and CEO of TheDream.US.

Pacheco points out, however, that the in-state tuition Dreamers pay amounts to about $15 million a year, which the state would also lose if the in-state tuition benefit is yanked, given, she says, that most Dreamers would not be able to afford higher out-of-state tuition price tags.

And because Florida Deamers themselves pay taxes, she says, they themselves contribute to the state revenues that subsidize in-state tuition.

Pacheco adds Trump himself says many Dreamers parlay their college degrees into successful businesses and professions, contributing to their communities as nurses, teachers and entrepreneurs. Again, on Meet the Press, Trump said that "in many cases [Dreamers] have become successful."

"They have great jobs; in some cases they have small businesses — in some cases they might have large businesses," Trump said.

Pacheco stresses that “a college degree, on average, close to doubles what someone with only a high school diploma earns. So we’re talking about billions of dollars in taxes and spending power."

Almost 7,000 Dreamers have taken advantage of Florida in-state tuition each year.

Dreamers are allowed to stay in the U.S. for the time being under the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) designation that then President Barack Obama created in 2012. Since then, they and their advocates have urged Congress to grant them lawful U.S. residence.

It's unclear if Gov. Ron DeSantis will sign the TRUMP Act into law. He offered up his own immigration bill, but was rebuffed by House and Senate leaders.

As Florida lawmakers debated the measure on Tuesday, DeSantis criticized the bill during an interview on Fox News.

“It’s a weak bill, but they named it the Trump Act. So they think by putting the name of a strong president on a weak bill, that somehow that is going to pull the wool over the eyes,” DeSantis told Fox News host Laura Ingraham.

The News Service of Florida contributed to this story.

Tim Padgett is the Americas Editor for WLRN, covering Latin America, the Caribbean and their key relationship with South Florida. Contact Tim at tpadgett@wlrnnews.org
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