Florida lieutenant governor backs off support of in-state tuition for undocumented students

Milena Malaver, Miami Herald on Jan 25, 2025

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MIAMI — Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, who once advocated for a bill granting in-state tuition to undocumented college students, now believes that the legislation has “run its course” and is calling for its repeal.

She announced her changed stance on Saturday via her X account, responding to a video posted by state Sen. Jason Pizzo, a South Florida Democrat. The video showed Nuñez in 2014 urging lawmakers to support the bill, which extended in-state tuition prices to undocumented students who attended high school in Florida.

“I stand here today and I firmly believe that this bill balances fairness with pragmatism, compassion with common sense,” she said in the 2014 video. “And to grandstand and inject political rhetoric in this debate, is in my opinion shameful and pathetic.”

The legislation passed and was signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Scott in June of 2014.

Educational leaders, including Florida International University’s then-president Mark B. Rosenberg, at the time commended Nuñez on her advocacy.

“This unprecedented move by the Legislature will truly make a difference in the lives of our students, and I am thankful for the courage and tenacity demonstrated by those who supported the measure,” Rosenberg said at the time.

Almost 11 years later, Nuñez now argues that “our country looks very different today than it did then.”

Her shift aligns with Gov. Ron DeSantis’s efforts to repeal the law, saying that the state should not “subsidize” the education of non-U.S. citizens.

The bill signed into law in 2014 has allowed thousands of undocumented students in Florida to receive access to higher education.

According to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal, there are over 43,000 undocumented students in higher education in Florida, including some attending Nuñez’s alma mater, Florida International University.

Despite the bill’s past impact, Nuñez now says: “Florida will not incentivize illegal immigration through this law or any other.”