Senate passes bill cracking down on illegal immigration, ending Dreamers’ in-state tuition

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 11/19/24-Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, speaks during organizational session, Tuesday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

The Senate has passed a deal on immigration enforcement, ending a stalemate within the GOP and rejecting complaints from Democrats.

Senate Republicans were unmoved by Democrats’ pleas to protect Dreamers, who would lose their in-state tuition starting next school year under the bill.

The Senate gave a third reading Thursday during a Special Session to an immigration bill (SB 2C) co-sponsored by Republican Sens. Joe Gruters and Randy Fine that primarily deals with law enforcement, the criminal justice system and the state’s efforts to work with the federal government to crack down on illegal immigration.

The measure appropriates $250 million for law enforcement and gives the power to oversee immigration to a new state board that Gov. Ron DeSantis, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson and others would serve on, as a compromise between DeSantis and the Legislature.

“I’m all for it. Let’s jack it up,” said Democratic Sen. Jason Pizzo about ramping up enforcement during Thursday’s debate.

Under the bill, DeSantis, Simpson, the Chief Financial Officer, the Attorney General and law enforcement officials would serve on the eight-member Immigration Enforcement Council to coordinate with the federal government on immigration. Deciding who would be in charge of overseeing immigration had been a source of contention between DeSantis and Simpson.

The bill would also award $250 million in grants to local enforcement agencies to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The funds would cover agencies’ expenses and give up to $1,000 bonuses for law enforcement officials who are now having more duties handling immigration as they work with the federal government.

The bill also strengthens criminal penalties for undocumented immigrants convicted of committing crimes and requires them to be sentenced to the maximum penalty for felonies.

But for Democrats, what Pizzo called “the poison pill” in the larger bill is a provision to eliminate in-state tuition waivers for roughly 6,500 undocumented students enrolled in Florida’s public universities and colleges.

Without the waivers, the students’ tuition rate would be tripled or quadrupled to out-of-state rates.

“They will drop out. You have priced them out of higher education,” said Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat. “Members, I ask you to search your hearts.”

But a Pizzo-backed amendment to protect the in-state rates just for current students was voted down Thursday 22-14. Ultimately, the Senate passed the bill 27-10.

Republicans argued it’s wrong to give in-state tuition to students who are undocumented. 

“I’m not saying they’re bad people, and I’m not saying they don’t have dreams because I’m sure they do,” said Fine, who pointed the blame at the students’ parents for bringing them into the country. “But to call them Dreamers implies that they have dreams and they have ambitions that are greater than other people.”

Democratic Sen. Barbara Sharief called the bill unfair, arguing the hardworking students deserve in-state tuition, which pays off in the long run for Florida since the students often begin careers here and pay taxes.

Fine pushed back. “The 2,000 students we know are not going to a Florida university of their choice because an illegal immigrant is there. What about their dreams?”

If signed, the immigration bill would repeal the 2014 law giving the Dreamers in-state tuition.

“We entered a contract with these folks,” said Sen. Tina Polsky, a Democrat from Boca Raton. “We made them a promise, and we could potentially be on the line for that difference in tuition down the line if one of them were to sue us.”