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pampango

(24,692 posts) Tue Sep 4, 2012, 05:35 PM Sep 2012

Judge: Fla. can’t charge students with undocumented parents higher, out-of-state tuition

Source: Washington Post

Students at Florida’s public colleges and universities cannot be charged higher out-of-state tuition simply because their parents are in the U.S. illegally, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore determined the policy violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution by forcing those students to unfairly pay three times as much as Florida residents. Children born in this country are citizens whether or not their parents have legal immigration status.

The ruling Friday came in a lawsuit filed by the Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of several Florida students who were denied in-state tuition because they could not prove their parents are in this country legally. The center’s deputy legal director, Jerri Katzerman, said Tuesday that Moore’s ruling could give thousands of students greater access to an education.

State Rep. Hazelle Rogers, a Lauderhill Democrat who sponsored legislation to scrap the policy, said the ruling comes as welcome news. “The bottom line is simple: a U.S. citizen should be treated like a U.S. citizen no matter who their parents are,” Rogers said.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/judge-fla-cant-charge-students-with-undocumented-parents-higher-out-of-state-tuition/2012/09/04/6aa32496-f6c6-11e1-a93b-7185e3f88849_story.html

The story indicated that this ruling could affect as many as 9,000 students in Florida. Similar rulings have happened in other states. My guess is those were states run by republicans.

The odd thing is that these students were being charged out-of-state tuition not because they were illegal immigrants (they are Florida residents and American citizens) but because they could not prove that their parents were not here illegally.

Once again a court has to clean up after a republican state legislature and governor that go after those supposed 'others' who are out there trying to get 'us'.

11 replies

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Highlight:

Judge: Fla. can’t charge students with undocumented parents higher, out-of-state tuition (Original Post) pampango Sep 2012 OP

Children born in this country are citizens whether or not their parents have legal immigration statu elleng Sep 2012 #1

So who brought up the higher rate rule? sakabatou Sep 2012 #2

Not sure but the FL republican legislature has killed Democrat bills to change the law. pampango Sep 2012 #11

There sure is a lot of effort to punish people for their relatives lately. Oy. (nt) Posteritatis Sep 2012 #3

I had a regular visa (E-1) and had to pay out-of-state tuition WilmywoodNCparalegal Sep 2012 #4

Well, you obviously wasted your time getting a visa. Pterodactyl Sep 2012 #8

The students in this case did not need a visa because they are American citizens. pampango Sep 2012 #10

Plyer v. Doe set the precedent bluestateguy Sep 2012 #5

Awesome. nt ZombieHorde Sep 2012 #6

Good ruling. n/t tammywammy Sep 2012 #7

Good. Clear case of unequal treatment that violated 14th amendment. Judge MICHAEL MOORE???? alp227 Sep 2012 #9

elleng

(131,028 posts)

1. Children born in this country are citizens whether or not their parents have legal immigration statu

Reply to pampango (Original post)

Tue Sep 4, 2012, 05:38 PM

Sep 2012

sakabatou

(42,165 posts)

2. So who brought up the higher rate rule?

Reply to pampango (Original post)

Tue Sep 4, 2012, 05:41 PM

Sep 2012

pampango

(24,692 posts)

11. Not sure but the FL republican legislature has killed Democrat bills to change the law.

Reply to sakabatou (Reply #2)

Wed Sep 5, 2012, 05:10 AM

Sep 2012

There have been legislative attempts in past years to offer in-state tuition to students with undocumented parents. This year’s bill was carried by state Rep. Reggie Fullwood, D-Jacksonville, in the House. He said the ruling should put an end to the state’s “ridiculous policy.”

“The Republican-controlled Florida Legislature has refused to dismantle this glaring inequity in college admissions policy,” Fullwood said. “The bottom line is simple: A U.S. citizen should be treated like a U.S. citizen regardless of who their parents are.”

http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-09-04/story/federal-judge-says-legal-residents-cant-be-forced-pay-out-state

Back in February, a proposed bill that would have allowed Florida-born U.S. citizens to pay in-state college tuition fees regardless of the immigration status of their parents, died in the Florida Legislature.

During testimony for the bill, Sen. Steve Oelrich, a Gainesville Republican who chairs the Florida Senate committee on Higher Education, interrupted a student who said Florida’s policy was unfair because she’s a legal residents.

http://stateimpact.npr.org/florida/2012/09/04/fla-department-of-education-reviews-decision-on-in-state-tuition-for-students-with-undocumented-parents/

While I am not sure how the higher tuition rate for Florida resident US citizens based on the legal status of their parents, I know which party loves to make life as difficult as possible for illegal immigrants (romney's 'self-deportation' policy) and which other party enacts state Dream Acts for the children of these immigrants.

Posteritatis

(18,807 posts)

3. There sure is a lot of effort to punish people for their relatives lately. Oy. (nt)

Reply to pampango (Original post)

Tue Sep 4, 2012, 05:49 PM

Sep 2012

WilmywoodNCparalegal

(2,654 posts)

4. I had a regular visa (E-1) and had to pay out-of-state tuition

Reply to pampango (Original post)

Tue Sep 4, 2012, 06:00 PM

Sep 2012

even though I had lived in NC 2 years by the time I went to college. Never thought I should have paid out of state tuition, since I was a legal resident of NC for more than 12 consecutive months. However, at the time, NC did not allow for in-state tuition if you had a visa (whether it was a student visa or as a dependent of someone with an employment-based visa).

Pterodactyl

(1,687 posts)

8. Well, you obviously wasted your time getting a visa.

Reply to WilmywoodNCparalegal (Reply #4)

Tue Sep 4, 2012, 10:25 PM

Sep 2012

pampango

(24,692 posts)

10. The students in this case did not need a visa because they are American citizens.

Reply to WilmywoodNCparalegal (Reply #4)

Wed Sep 5, 2012, 04:52 AM

Sep 2012

Florida was charging them out-of-state tuition because they could not prove that their parents were legal immigrants.

I think most public universities do charge out-of-state rates to foreign students regardless of how long they have lived in a state. It is one of the ways that they say they subsidize tuition rates for in-state students.