In Florida, House Bill 851 was passed into law in July 2014, making our state one of 17 in the nation that now allow eligible high school graduates the ability to pay in-state tuition rates at public postsecondary institutions.
Today, Representative Randy Fine (Republican-Palm Bay) filed a bill, HB 6037 to reverse that decision. This will have a negative impact on students in Brevard County including those who attend Eastern Florida State College.
The term “undocumented students” generally refers to students born outside of the United States who lack
legal status to reside in this country. In many cases, their parents brought them into the country as children
with no legal permission to enter the U.S. or on a temporary visa that the family overstayed. Advocates for these students also call them “DREAMers,” a reference to the DREAM Act, the proposed federal legislation to provide a pathway to citizenship for eligible undocumented students who entered the country as a child, graduated from a U.S. high school and have been admitted to a U.S. college.
Although the DREAM Act has not passed Congress to date, President Obama in 2012 issued an executive order to grant eligible undocumented youth with government protection from deportation and the ability to legally seek
employment through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.