‘I don't want to drop out': Youth ask Florida GOP to keep in-state tuition for undocumented
Young immigrants called on Florida Republican lawmaker to not repeal a decade-old law that has allowed thousands of undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates for higher education in state colleges and universities.
At a press conference on Tuesday in front of the Miami-Dade School Board building in downtown Miami, several South Floridians directly pleaded with Gov. Ron DeSantis and Tallahassee legislators to keep the policy in place.
Idalia Quinteros, a first-generation immigrant from El Salvador, said that when she started applying for college, 'it felt like every single door was slammed in my face.' She couldn't apply for financial aid, qualify for most scholarships, take out loans, or get a job without a work permit.
'The light at the end of the tunnel was the in-state tuition waiver. It made college more affordable and gave me the opportunity to pursue my dreams,' said Quinteros, who now has an associate's and a bachelor's degree.
The bipartisan measure, signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott in 2014, adjusted residency requirements for higher-education purposes so that having access to in-state tuition rates was no longer tied to immigration status.
Educators, activists, and community leaders fear that if the policy is repealed thousands of undocumented youth in Florida will no longer be able to afford going to college. About 13,000 undocumented seniors graduate high school in the state annually, according to the President's Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a university leaders' group that advocates for immigrant students and conducts research on the effect of immigration policies on universities. There are also over 43,000 undocumented college students in Florida.
Demands to keep the in-state tuition policy come after Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed state lawmakers in recent weeks to repeal it. Republican legislative leaders have drawn up their own immigration proposal, which DeSantis has criticized, but it includes a provision that would eliminate in-state tuition for undocumented students.
Under the current law, undocumented students in Florida can get a waiver and pay Florida-resident tuition fees at public and state colleges as long as they meet certain requirements. They must have gone to high school in the state for at least three consecutive years and enrolled in college within two years of high school graduation. The 2014 legislation also benefited the children of veterans, students without reliable housing or living in abusive households, and recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the immigration program that lets some undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children to work..
READ MORE: Goaded to act by DeSantis, Florida lawmakers rebuke governor, unveil own immigration plan
Florida Lieut. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, who advocated for the law a decade ago as a state representative, recently said she no longer supports the policy, saying that the U.S. looks 'very different today than it did then.'
'It's time to repeal this law. It has served its purpose and run its course. Florida will not incentivize illegal immigration through this law or any other,' she said said on her X account.
READ MORE: Florida lieutenant governor backs off support of in-state tuition for undocumented students
Advocates disagree.
'What has not changed is that children still need affordable education… What's sad is that they are attacking kids,' said immigration advocate Yareliz Menendez Zamora. Florida Student Power Network, American Friends Service Committee, Seeds of Resistance, and other activist organizations hosted the press conference.
Gaby Pacheco, a Miami immigration advocate that leads TheDream.US, the nation's largest college aid program for undocumented youth, said that the waiver had enabled more than 600 scholarship recipients from their programs to go to college.
'Cutting off Dreamers' opportunities to pursue and afford higher education is not only harmful to their future success, but shortsighted and harmful to Florida's overall future and potential economic growth,' said Pacheco, who came to the U.S. as a child.
Valeria Maldonado, 20, a nursing student at Miami-Dade College who came to the U.S. from El Salvador as a toddler, said that her focus had always been school because of her desire to pursue a career and help her family.
'I am here to ask not only Ron DeSantis but all our representatives across the state to make a real change, and not to hinder my growth, or create more challenges for me to become a professional in the medical field,' said Maldonado. ' I do not want to drop out and nor do my peers.'
Miami Herald staff writer Ana Ceballos contributed to this story.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

9 minutes ago
In their own words: Trump, Newsom trade insults and barbs over National Guard in Los Angeles
The swiftly evolving situation in the Los Angeles area over protests surrounding immigration enforcement actions has also cued up a public spat between President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California governor who has been one of the Republican president's most vocal Democratic critics. After Trump on Sunday called up 2,000 National Guard troops to respond, Newsom said he would sue the administration, a promise on which the state followed through a day later. Trump cited a legal provision that allows him to mobilize federal service members when there is 'a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States." The president also agreed with one of his top advisers that maybe the governor should be arrested. Here's a look at back-and-forth between Trump and Newsom in their own words: 'You have violent people, and we're not gonna let them get away with it.' — Trump, Sunday, in remarks to reporters in Morristown, New Jersey. ___ Newsom's ire has been elevated over Trump's decision to, without his support, call up the California National Guard for deployment into his state. In a letter Sunday, Newsom called on Trump to rescind the Guard deployment, calling it a 'serious breach of state sovereignty.' The governor, who was in Los Angeles meeting with local law enforcement and other officials, also told protesters they were playing into Trump's plans and would face arrest for violence or property destruction. 'Trump wants chaos and he's instigated violence,' he said. 'Stay peaceful. Stay focused. Don't give him the excuse he's looking for.' In an interview with MSNBC, Newsom said Sunday he had spoken with Trump 'late Friday night,' after the protests had begun, but said deploying the National Guard 'never came up.' "We talked for almost 20 minutes, and he — barely, this issue never came up. I mean, I kept trying to talk about LA, he wanted to talk about all these other issues," Newsom said. 'We had a very decent conversation.' 'He never once brought up the National Guard,' Newsom said of Trump, calling him 'a stone-cold liar.' Saying, 'I did call him the other night,' Trump told reporters Sunday that he told Newsom in that call: ''Look you've got to take care of this. Otherwise I'm sending in the troops.' ... That's what we did.' On Monday, Trump posted on social media that Los Angeles would have been 'completely obliterated' without his intervention and referred to Newsom as 'Newscum,' a pejorative moniker he has used to refer to the governor. 'We are suing Donald Trump. This is a manufactured crisis. He is creating fear and terror to take over a state militia and violate the U.S. constitution.' — Newsom, Monday, X post. ___ As Newsom promised, California officials sued the Trump administration on Monday, with the state's attorney general, Rob Bonta, arguing that the deployment of troops 'trampled' on the state's sovereignty and pushing for a restraining order. The initial deployment of 300 National Guard troops was expected to quickly expand to the full 2,000 that were authorized by Trump. Late Monday, Trump authorized an additional 2,000 National Guard troops. Ahead of that move, Newsom accused the president of inflaming tensions, breaching state sovereignty and wasting resources, while warning protesters not to 'take Trump's bait.' Teasing the suit, Newsom told MSNBC that he saw the deployment as 'an illegal act, an immoral act, an unconstitutional act.' Asked Monday about the lawsuit, Trump said it was 'interesting' and argued 'that place would be burning down' without the federal government's intervention. 'I'm very happy I got involved," Trump added. "I think Gavin in his own way is very happy I got involved.' 'I think it's great. Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing." — Trump, Monday, in remarks to reporters. ___ Tom Homan, the Trump administration's border czar, previously warned that anyone, including public officials, would be arrested if they obstructed federal immigration enforcement. Newsom's initial response to Homan, during the MSNBC interview and in subsequent posts on his own social media: 'Come and get me, tough guy.' On Monday Trump seemed to agree with his border chief, telling reporters, 'I would do it if I were Tom.' 'I think it's great. Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing,' Trump added. "He's done a terrible job. Look — I like Gavin, he's a nice guy, but he's grossly incompetent, everybody knows." Homan later said there was 'no discussion' about actually arresting Newsom, but reiterated that 'no one's above the law.' wrote Monday on X that they represented 'a day I hoped I would never see in America' and said Trump's call for his arrest marked 'an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.'

41 minutes ago
New York lawmakers approve bill that would allow medically assisted suicide for the terminally ill
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Terminally ill New Yorkers would have the legal ability to end their own lives with pharmaceutical drugs under a bill passed Monday in the state Legislature. The proposal, which now moves to the governor's office, would allow a person with an incurable illness to be prescribed life-ending drugs if he or she requests the medication and gets approval from two physicians. A spokesperson for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she would review the legislation. The New York Senate gave final approval to the bill Monday night after hours of debate during which supporters said it would let terminally ill people die on their own terms. 'It's not about hastening death, but ending suffering,' said state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a Democrat who sponsored the proposal. Opponents have argued the state should instead improve end-of-life medical care or have objected on religious grounds. 'We should not be in the business of state-authorized suicide,' said state Sen. George Borrello, a Republican. The state Assembly passed the measure in late April. The proposal requires that a terminally ill person who is expected to die within six month make a written request for the drugs. Two witnesses would have sign the request to ensure that the patient is not being coerced. The request would then have to be approved by the person's attending physician as well as a consulting physician. The legislation was first introduced in 2016, Hoylman-Sigal said, though it has stalled year after year in the New York statehouse. Dennis Poust, executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference, which has opposed the measure, said 'This is a dark day for New York State." Eleven other states and Washington, D.C., have laws allowing medically assisted suicide, according to Compassion & Choices, an advocacy organization that backs the policy. Corinne Carey, the group's local campaign director, said lawmakers had 'recognized how important it is to give terminally ill New Yorkers the autonomy they deserve over their own end-of-life experiences.' 'The option of medical aid in dying provides comfort, allowing those who are dying to live their time more fully and peacefully until the end,' said Carey.


New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
113 House Democrats vote against GOP resolution denouncing the antisemitic terrorist attack in Colorado
More than 100 House Democrats voted against a Republican-led resolution condemning the antisemitic terrorist attack in Boulder and Colorado's sanctuary state laws on Monday. The resolution, introduced by Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.), cleared the lower chamber in a 280-113 vote, with 75 Democrats joining Republicans to pass the measure. Democrats fumed over language in the resolution expressing 'gratitude to law enforcement, including US Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, for protecting the homeland.' 3 House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks with reporters about the spending and tax bill embraced by President Donald Trump and Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, June 6, 2025. AP The National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP's campaign arm, charged that Democrats voting against the bill 'sided with terrorists over police officers and flat-out refused to condemn antisemitism.' 'Democrats have become the pro-terrorist, anti-cop, antisemitic caucus. And they're proud of it,' the NRCC wrote on X. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) slammed Evans as a 'joke' ahead of the vote. 'Who is this guy? He's not seriously concerned with combating antisemitism in America. This is not a serious effort,' Jeffries told reporters. 'Antisemitism is a scourge on America. It shouldn't be weaponized politically.' Evans shot back that the 'wildly offensive sentiment' expressed by Jeffries is 'why antisemitism persists.' 3 This image provided by the Boulder Police Dept. shows Mohamed Sabry Soliman. AP 'The Left is unserious about finding real solutions,' the congressman argued on X. 'Condemning terrorism is not a joking matter.' Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), who is Jewish and voted no on the resolution, argued on the House floor that the measure was being put forward to simply 'score political points.' 'You weren't here, Mr. Evans, last term, but there were about 10 antisemitism resolutions that effectively said the same thing solely to score political points,' Goldman said. 'We Jews are sick and tired of being used as pawns.' 3 Gabe Evans, R-Fort Lupton, speaks to reporters during a news conference on the steps of the Colorado Capitol in Denver on Thursday, May 29, 2025. In his floor speech, Evans stated: 'As a former police officer and Army veteran of the Global War on Terror, I know how Colorado's radical leftists leaders and laws prioritize illegal immigrants over public safety — allowing antisemitic terrorists like Mohammed Sabry Soliman to strike.' Soliman, an Egyptian national who overstayed his visa, allegedly used Molotov cocktails and a makeshift flamethrower during the June 1 attack targeting peaceful marchers who were calling for the release of Hamas-held hostages in Gaza. Fifteen people were injured in the firebombing, during which Soliman allegedly shouted, 'Free Palestine.' 'The passing of my resolution ensures we condemn all acts of antisemitism and affirms that the free and open collaboration between state and local law enforcement with their federal counterparts is key in preventing future attacks like this,' the congressman continued. A separate resolution introduced by Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) and Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), who more generally denounced the uptick in antisemitic attacks in the US, passed in a 400-0 vote.