The anticipation of college: the all-nighters, the parties, the hard-earned diploma — all just unaffordable dreams to children of undocumented parents.
SB 106 died in the Florida Senate Judiciary Committee last week, a bill that would have allowed children of illegal parents to qualify for in-state tuition. This was the second attempt at making education more of a reality than a utopian dream — HB 81, similar in intent, failed in the same Republican-dominated Senate a month earlier.
The 4-3 vote speaks volumes about the Florida Legislature. Sen. Gary Siplin's proposal had all the right ingredients: The student must attend a Florida high school for three years, graduate, register at a Florida college or university and, most significantly, file an affidavit with the university promising to seek residency or citizenship.
That last requirement makes all the difference. Why it wasn't enough for the judiciary committee, we will never know. The heated argument about granting in-state tuition to the children of undocumented parents is formed upon the hot topic of illegal immigration.
Not that I condone breaking the law — illegal immigration is, after all, illegal, and should be enforced — but many of these children came at the will of their parents. Among those barred from qualifying for in-state tuition are children born in the U.S. (by definition, American citizens) who list themselves as financially dependent on their undocumented parents.
Let's give them the opportunity to right their parents' wrongs. Give them equal tuition, and they'll become productive citizens.
The debate against granting in-state tuition for these children boils down, like almost everything else, to money. The argument goes as follows: If their parents didn't pay taxes, why should they pay the same rate as lifetime Florida residents? Or rather, why didn't their parents become citizens?
I don't have the answer for the second question, other than the process of immigration desperately needs to be amended, but to answer the first, this bill offers the opportunity to break the cycle. These students attend college and become citizens. Soon enough they'll be paying taxes to the state, perhaps funding a student in a similar circumstance. It's a matter of paying it forward and progressing onward.
UF tuition for a Florida resident is a bargain — $5,700 a year for an undergrad. Just looking at fees and ignoring the pile-up of housing, books and food, out-of-state tuition amounts to an astounding and unnecessary $27,936.
And that's just for one year.
Having these students "pay their way" through inflated out-of-state tuition is pocket robbery. The bill will morph into student loans, which will compound into more debt over time.
If they're granted in-state tuition, students can move up the economic ladder and contribute to Florida's economy. Keeping these children from an affordable education doesn't teach them or their parents a thing about becoming a legal citizen. These children can't improve themselves without education, something taken for granted in our current system.
Let's not forget that these students are products of the Florida public school system. They passed the FCAT and earned their high school diplomas. If they go through the effort of applying to college and are accepted, why not give them a fair shot at paying for it?
The Florida Legislature needs to approve a bill for these students soon. If not, we're putting a financial burden on thousands of students who have dreams of becoming doctors, lawyers, engineers or teachers.
To stunt those dreams because of their parents' decisions or for financial reasons gives a whole new meaning to the word unfair.
Colleen Wright is a journalism freshman at UF. Her column appears on Tuesdays.
