Update: The Florida Board of Governors moved its Academic Affairs Committee meeting to Thursday. Details of the proposed ban remain the same.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – The Florida Board of Governors is set to take the first in a series of votes to ban those without legal residency from attending the University of Florida, Florida State University and all the other institutions in the Sunshine State.
According to the Florida Board of Governors agenda, the Academic Affairs Committee will consider changing Regulation 6.001, which covers admission requirements.
“Beginning with the 2027-28 academic year, a person who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible for initial enrollment in any state university…” the proposed change begins. Technically, the ban only applies to universities that did not admit all qualified applicants within the last two years.
But advocacy organizations say that amounts to a total ban, including for “Dreamers,” or those who received DACA.
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“First of all, dreamers are not asking for anything for free. They’re asking to be able to attend these institutions and pay the bill,” said Gaby Pacheco, the president and CEO of TheDream.US .
Pacheco said the proposed ban would hurt competition in Florida, ultimately harming the state.
“As Americans, we love competition and we want the best of the best. And so if these students are actually at the state universities earning a spot because they have the GPAs, they have the test scores, they have the community service, they have everything, right?” she said.
The Academic Affairs Committee will gavel in just after 4 p.m. on Wednesday. According to the agenda packet, should the committee advance the measure, it will be open “for public comment for 14 days.”
“If no concerns are raised during this time, the regulation will come before the Board of Governors for final approval at the next meeting,” the agenda packet reads.
Emily Sikes, the vice chancellor for academic and student affairs, will brief the committee. Please check back for updates after the meeting ends.
“We have FSU, UF, but reality is that these students are going to institutions like UCF, like FIU, like Florida Atlantic, where there’s not as much demand,” Pacheco said.
Governor Ron DeSantis previously said he supports the ban, saying continuing to admit illegal immigrants would be a slap in the face to taxpayers.
The ban would kick in for any university that didn’t admit all qualified applicants in the last two years, which advocates say amounts to a blanket exclusion.
The Academic Affairs Committee meeting comes the same day as advocacy groups revealed data that shows Florida heavily relies on immigrant labor, especially from asylum seekers.
Dr. Philip Connor, a research fellow at Princeton University, says asylum seekers most seek jobs in construction, hospitality or professional business services. In fact, Connor said 10% of Florida’s construction workers are asylum applicants.
“So if we look at nationwide, that 100 billion plus annual economic contribution is there. But within Florida alone, it’s about 22 billion,” Connor said. “In fact, if we look at wage earners within Florida, two of every $100 earned in Florida are earned by an asylum applicant.”
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