House committee backs immigration bill to eliminate in-state tuition for undocumented students

A House committee voted in favor of an immigration bill that would make Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson the state’s new chief immigration officer and eliminate in-state tuition waivers for undocumented college students.

HB 1-B would also create the Office of State Immigration Enforcement to coordinate with the federal government on illegal immigration as well as give more than $500 million from the state’s general fund to state and local enforcement agencies to crack down on the issue.

“Let’s be very clear about what we’re trying to do with the totality of this bill,” said HB 1-B sponsor Rep. Lawrence McClure during late Monday afternoon’s discussion. “We have a mass illegal immigration crisis in this country.”

He said his bill takes away incentives for undocumented immigrants coming to Florida.

“We’re not saying you can’t go to school. We’re not saying that you can’t seek other forms of financial aid,” he argued.

The bill cleared a House committee and will be sent to another House committee, formed for Special Session specifically to address illegal immigration, as Republican lawmakers squared off with Gov. Ron DeSantis how to address the issue.

The bill’s debate Monday fell along party lines as House Democrats argued it is cruel to take away in-state tuition waivers for undocumented students. 

“They have grown up in Florida. They have attended Florida schools. They are members of our community,” Rep. Marie Woodson, a Democrat from Hollywood, whose amendment failed to pass to remove the in-state tuition waivers reference out of the bill. “Let’s try do right by those children.”

Under the bill, the in-state waivers would be eliminated July 1 before the start of the new school year.

Rep. Fentrice Driskell called HB 1-B  a missed opportunity for lawmakers to create bipartisan immigration reform.

“I think the challenge that I’m having with this bill is that there seems to be some sections of it that are overly  broad and where we haven’t completely thought through potential consequences, and that makes me nervous,” said Driskell, a Tampa Democrat, who wanted churches and schools to be explicitly designated as safe havens in the bill.

She urged Florida lawmakers to wait and see what the federal government and President Donald Trump do before state lawmakers invest millions on addressing illegal immigration.

But Rep. Dean Black, a Jacksonville Republican, fought back on arguments claiming McClure’s bill was too expensive.

“This bill achieves justice, and we should reject out of hand any idea that the money that we spend to restore law and order, to restore justice, and to enforce the law, is necessarily a net financial loss,” he said. “We had a great national debate. The people have spoken, and it is time for the Florida House to answer.”

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