State Senate panel kills immigration tuition bill

By The Associated Press
Published: January 31, 2012

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TALLAHASSEE — A Florida bill that would have allowed in-state college and university tuition for certain U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants is dead.

It failed on a 3-3 tie vote today in the Senate Higher Education Committee.

Opponents were not persuaded by emotional testimony from a Miami-Dade College student.

Carla Montes, who was born in Miami and graduated from Ronald Reagan High School in Doral, said she cried for three days after being denied in-state tuition.

Montes said she worked for a year at minimum wage so she could qualify for in-state tuition as an independent adult.

The bill (SB 1018) would have let U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants pay in-state tuition if they graduated from a Florida high school after attending it for at least two years.