Florida Governor Rick Scott Signs Bill to give Illegals Instate Tuition

There is growing outrage with the Republican controlled legislature and Governor Rick Scott for giving illegals instate tuition at Florida’s colleges and universities. Here is a comment about Governor Scott signing HB 851 on the Miami Herald blog:

The only bill that the citizens want regarding illegal aliens and university is that the universities must turn them in to the authorities for deportation when they become aware that they are involved in the universities. The voters have been won over by this scott after they initially doubted him as a political novice thanks to his exemplary fiscal stewardship but actions such as this threaten to damage the great amount of goodwill that this scott has generated. As this oddly named commentor has pointed out democrat primary voters are worried because their party leaders continue to ignore them and give party leader preferred status to the scumbag crist, a Trojan horse sent by republicans to ensure their easy victory as the much predicted crist campaign meltdown has in fact occurred. The most horrible crist has already offended many in this area who were born in or have ties to cuba with his support for communist dictators and many other offensive behaviors and activities.

Posted by: ed jenkins | June 09, 2014 at 09:39 AM

Some have rephrased the Karl Marx ideal of wealth redistribution and re-branded it for Governor Rick Scott:

“From each legal Florida citizen according to his ability, to each illegal in Florida according to his need”

Is this political posturing, crony capitalism, a violation of federal laws or all of the above? The Miami Herald reports:

Gov. Rick Scott on Monday signed legislation that allows students who are undocumented immigrants to qualify for less expensive in-state tuition at Florida colleges and universities. The bill (HB 851), sponsored by Rep. Jeannette Nunez, R-Miami, was one of the most intensely debated during the 2014 legislative session in Tallahassee. Scott signed the bill as he embarked on a week-long campaign swing focusing on his support for keeping higher education affordable in Florida, whille [sic] criticizing Democratic opponent Charlie Crist for having supported tuition hikes when he was a Republican governor. Scott plans stops in Fort Myers, Boca Raton, Miami, Orlando and Pensacola. The immigrant tuition bill passed the House 84-32 but was stalled in the Senate until Scott enlisted the public support of two former Republican governors, Jeb Bush and Bob Martinez, both of whom called on the Senate to take action. “Dreamer” students, dressed in orange mortar boards, were a freqent presence in the Capitol Rotunda this past spring as they rallied support for the measure. Read more.

According to Hans A. von Spakovsky and Charles D. Stimson giving in-state college tuition to illegal aliens violates federal law. The following from their November 2011 column titled “Providing In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens: A Violation of Federal Law“:

Federal law prohibits state colleges and universities from providing in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens “on the basis of residence within the State”—unless the same in-state rates are offered to all citizens of the United States. Today, 12 states are circumventing this federal law, and the legal arguments offered to justify such actions are untenable, no matter what other policy arguments are offered in their defense. Because at least one federal court of appeals has held that there is no private right of action under the specific statute in question—§ 1623 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996—the U.S. Department of Justice must enforce this statutory provision against states that have violated federal law. Yet even as it sues states like Arizona and Alabama for trying to assist the enforcement of federal immigration law, the U.S. government refuses to sue states that are incontrovertibly and brazenly violating an unambiguous federal immigration law. Such inaction is unacceptable: The President and the Attorney General have an obligation to enforce every provision of the United State’s comprehensive federal immigration regulations—including the federal law prohibiting state colleges and universities from providing in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens “on the basis of residence within the State.”

Read the full Spakovsky and Stimson column by clicking here. Every Florida Legislative session has examples of bad public policy. Policy that turns into law, which clearly illustrate a disconnect between Florida elected officials and their citizen constituents. This is a prime example. RELATED POLICY: Florida’s Agenda 21 – Governor Rick Scott’s Executive Order 13-319, October 2013.