{"id":234826,"date":"2026-04-16T22:05:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T22:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/234826\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T22:05:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T22:05:07","slug":"this-proposed-rule-could-bar-undocumented-immigrants-from-28-state-colleges-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/234826\/","title":{"rendered":"This proposed rule could bar undocumented immigrants from 28 state colleges in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">TALLAHASSEE  \u2013 Undocumented immigrants would be barred from admission to state colleges under a proposed rule by the Florida Department of Education.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The rule would also give schools the discretion to consider students\u2019 past misconduct in making admission decisions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Under the proposal each board of trustees in the Florida College System would be required, to \u201censure that all students admitted to the Florida College System institution are citizens of the United States or lawfully present in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Students would have to \u201cprovide clear and convincing documentation that he or she is a citizen of the United States or lawfully present in the United States,\u201d before admission.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The documentation must also be \u201cmust be credible, precise, and compelling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">A hearing on the proposed rule is set for May 14 at Miami Dade College.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The rule would only apply to Florida\u2019s 28 state colleges, not to its 12 state universities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">An email seeking comment from the department was not immediately returned Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Another part of the rule allows state colleges to \u201cdeny admission or enrollment to an applicant because of misconduct if determined to be in the best interest of the Florida College System institution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The move comes after some Republican lawmakers sought to limit the amount of non-American students at public higher education institutions, even if they are in the country legally.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">A sweeping House bill (HB 1279) sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Kincart-Johnson, R-Lakeland, initially had a provision putting a 5 percent cap on undergraduate admissions for non-Florida residents when it passed the House. But the Senate removed from the final version sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 desk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Another bill (SB 1052) sponsored by Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, prohibited all higher education institutions from admitting any non-citizen who wasn\u2019t legally present in the country. That bill, however, was never heard in committee this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">And a bill (HB 721) by Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, would have required schools to limit the number of enrolled students who are citizens of foreign countries and who are not permanent U.S. residents to a specified percentage of the enrolled student population.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">That bill received one hearing and never made it to the House floor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Florida has already passed legislation that repealed in-state tuition rates for approximately 6,500 immigrant students who were brought to the country illegally when they were children by their parents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Also, legislation DeSantis signed into law last month allowing the state to designate groups as \u201cdomestic terrorists,\u201d has another provision calling for the expulsion of students at state universities who \u201cpromote\u201d support for such groups.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">If a student\u2019s actions can be \u201creasonably interpreted\u201d as an actual threat of violence; disrupt the learning environment; infringe upon the rights of others; or offer \u201cmaterial support for or the recruitment of members for such an organization,\u201d they can be expelled under the new law.required<\/p>\n<p>\u00a92026 The News Service of Florida. All rights reserved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TALLAHASSEE \u2013 Undocumented immigrants would be barred from admission to state colleges under a proposed rule by the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[113,28,1841,232,234,233],"class_list":["post-234826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-education","tag-florida","tag-immigration","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}