The Department is considering public comments<\/a> about the rule through May 7.<\/p>\n If approved, colleges would have to adopt policies requiring applicants to provide what the rule describes as \u201cclear and convincing documentation\u201d proving citizenship or lawful immigration status before being granted admission.<\/p>\n Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-led Legislature have made a crackdown on immigration a priority in Florida.<\/p>\n \u201cWith President (Donald) Trump taking office, Florida has a unique opportunity to help facilitate the end to America\u2019s immigration crisis,\u201d DeSantis said earlier this year.<\/p>\n With the Governor\u2019s approval, Florida had previously eliminated in-state tuition for immigrant students who are in the U.S. illegally. The state Board of Governors also paused the H-1B visa program until 2027, which allows state universities to hire college-educated foreign workers.<\/p>\n The latest push is consistent with Republican efforts to limit spending public money on programs and institutions only for citizens or immigrants with lawful status. State and local government funding for higher education totaled $7.7 billion in Fiscal Year 2025, plus $1.6 billion in tuition, according to a report<\/a>\u00a0from the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, a group of immigrant advocacy organizations met ahead of a May 14 meeting, in which the State Board of Education is expected to discuss the proposed rule at Miami Dade College.<\/p>\n Yareliz Mendez-Zamora, the policy coordinator for American Friend Service Committee, a social justice and humanitarian nonprofit, said this proposed rule is a continuation of what she described as the governor\u2019s agenda against immigrants, and said he is now targeting children and young adults.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aThis would affect students that the state of Florida has already invested in,\u201d Mendez-Zamora said. \u201cWe\u2019re asking the Florida Department of Education to do the right thing and not pass these rules.\u201d<\/p>\n Valeria Maldonado, a student at Miami Dade College who was born in El Salvador and brought to the U.S. as a child, said education should not be denied to students, no matter their immigration status.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aIt feels like a part of a growing pattern, step by step, of including, excluding, silencing and stripping away rights that should be protected for everybody,\u201d Maldonado said.<\/p>\n She said there are students who have spent their entire lives in Florida classrooms and earned their place through effort and determination. Denying education does not make a community safer or stronger and creates more fear and cuts futures short before they begin, Maldonado said.<\/p>\n \u201cToday it may be immigrants or international students being targeted, but tomorrow it could be anyone who speaks up, anyone who disagrees, anyone who simply doesn\u2019t fit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Samuel Santiago, a 29-year-old former student at Valencia College who came from Venezuela as a political refugee, said the proposed rule was shameful.<\/p>\n In 2015, Santiago earned an associates degree from Valencia College at 18 before studying politics at Princeton University. He said he knew students at Valencia who were not U.S. citizens but wanted to get an education.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, our youth is seeking to get an education so that they can contribute here, grow our economy and make our communities better,\u201d Santiago said.<\/p>\n He said the state functions the best when opportunities are created for all Floridians, and students who do not have legal documentation still have the right to access quality education.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be targeting undocumented immigrants who are part of our community, a part of our society, is very cheap and shameful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n If the rule is approved, Santiago said, some students will not be able to finish school, which will cause a rippling effect in the economy as Florida won\u2019t have the necessary workforce to sustain key industries like hospitality, construction and healthcare. Floridians will have to pay the price of what the proposal will do to the state\u2019s economic loss, he said.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Florida Policy Institute<\/a>\u00a0reported that Florida\u2019s colleges stand to lose up to $15 million by denying access to affected students. It could worsen already decreased higher education enrollment rates, which \u201cwill cost Florida revenue, skilled labor, and the unique contributions of these young Floridians,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n Santiago said supporters of this measure should reconsider. In today\u2019s political context, he said this rule is a continuation of putting politics before people. It will have a rippling effect on Florida\u2019s diverse community, and there is a moral imperative to oppose it, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my view, it only impacts a few of our students, some of our brightest minds in our communities,\u201d Santiago said.<\/p>\n The Florida Department of Education declined to comment on the proposal.<\/p>\n \u201cFlorida continues to lead the nation in combating illegal immigration. Our colleges will soon deny admission to those who cannot prove they are here legally,\u201d Alex Lanfranconi, a spokesman for the Governor, wrote<\/a>\u00a0on social media.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a> and [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>. You can donate to support our students here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Students without lawful immigration status in Florida could soon be barred from admission to all 28 state community…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9319,9320,9321,3344,826,95],"class_list":{"0":"post-16366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-valencia","8":"tag-fdoe","9":"tag-florida-department-of-education","10":"tag-florida-policy-institute","11":"tag-illegal-immigration","12":"tag-immigration","13":"tag-valencia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/CFPA-Digital-Ad-Sunburn-728x90-1.jpg\")
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