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Legislature conflicted on immigrants' tuition bill

Some lawmakers rethink a bill that lets illegal immigrants' kids pay the same college tuition as other Floridians.

By LETITIA STEIN
Published April 25, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - Three years ago, the streets were empty of immigration protests. And the Florida Senate had no problem with children of illegal immigrants paying the same in-state college tuition as Florida residents.

Today, with immigration a politically charged issue in an election year, some senators are having a change of heart.

"The times are changing, and people are realizing that we've been traveling down a path in this country that is doing nothing but giving rise to more illegal immigration," said Senate President Tom Lee, R-Valrico. "It's time for us to take a stand because this policy is not sustainable."

But Lee twice has voted for a similar proposal. In 2003 and 2004, the Senate unanimously approved an in-state tuition break for illegal immigrants' children.

The House, which usually is more conservative, passed a version capped initially at 2,000 top-ranked students last week.

The friction between Republicans in Tallahassee over tuition breaks for the children of illegal immigrants mirrors the national fight over immigration policy. One fellow Republican says Lee is playing politics with the issue. Lee is running for state chief financial officer and faces a Republican primary in September.

"The Senate president is going to run for statewide office and basically say, "I'm a tough guy because I pick on kids,"' said Rep. Juan Zapata, R-Miami, the House sponsor. "We're going to sit here and persecute children who've done nothing wrong, and then go out and beat our chests and say we're tough on immigration."

Zapata came to Florida from Colombia at age 11. He has sponsored the legislation every year since his 2002 election. It is always House Bill 119, the number assigned to his predominantly Hispanic House district.

He became emotional discussing the bill before the House Education Council on Friday. "This bill is about giving children an opportunity to live a better life," Zapata said.

His proposal would let the children of illegal residents qualify for in-state tuition breaks if they have lived in Florida for three consecutive years and attended a state public school for the same time.

At the University of South Florida, in-state tuition this year for a student taking 12 credits per semester is $2,589.12. Out-of-state students pay $12,802.08.

To keep the benefits, Zapata's proposal requires immigrants' kids to take a certain number of credits each year and maintain a 2.0 grade point average. They can't qualify for state scholarship programs like Bright Futures.

Gov. Jeb Bush supports allowing immigrant children to attend college with in-state tuition. His wife, Columba, was born and raised in Mexico.

"Someone who's been living here for almost all their lives, going through their education here and doing exactly what we ask them to do, there should not be a barrier to their entry to college," said Bush, noting the Senate twice has passed similar legislation in prior years.

"It's a difficult reach in this climate that we're in," Bush said.

The concept also seems fair to Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, one of the Legislature's most conservative voices. A leader in education policy, he said this issue is separate from the immigration debate.

"What's the caring thing to do? What's the compassionate thing to do?" said Baxley, whose concern for the students is influenced by his wife, a French-Canadian immigrant. "They can't help that they are against the backdrop of a failed immigration policy."

Baxley's views are often to the right of his Senate counterparts. But this year, senators say their constituents won't let them vote for the tuition proposal.

"It is the opinion of the vast majority of people who have contacted me that we shouldn't be promoting bad behavior," said Sen. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs, who is up for re-election this fall. He said he didn't remember that he has twice voted for a similar proposal.

The proposal recently went down to defeat on a tie vote in the Senate Domestic Security Committee. Republican Sens. Jim Sebesta, Paula Dockery and Stephen Wise joined Constantine in voting against the tuition breaks. All have supported similar legislation before. Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, was the only Republican to vote for it.

The defeat of the measure in the Senate committee could hurt the proposal's chances in the last two weeks of the legislative session.

"The heightened awareness that we have right now in America on the impacts of illegal immigration on our society have changed the context within which this legislation is being considered," said Lee, explaining why he and a number of senators have withdrawn support.

The Senate's position could diminish the chances of a related piece of legislation. The tuition breaks for the children of illegal immigrants passed the House Friday, attached to a program creating a matching grant program for students who are the first generation in their family to go to college.

The measure passed with a 91-21 vote, with Republicans casting all of the no votes.

Rep. Randy Johnson, R-Celebration, Lee's primary opponent in the CFO race, missed the vote. But he's taking a different position.

"I don't think we should be finding ways to block Florida's young people who want to go to college, regardless of whom their parents are or where they came from," he said in a statement released through his campaign.

--Time staff writers Steve Bousquet and Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler contributed to this report. Letitia Stein can be reached at lstein@sptimes.com or 850 224-7263.

[Last modified April 25, 2006, 01:08:16]