The Florida Board of Education has officially blocked illegal immigrants from attending state-level colleges. The Division of Florida Colleges said the admissions criteria were changed to adhere to state law — but opponents are questioning that claim.
Local Impact
All 28 of these schools, including Palm Beach State College and Indian River State College, will have to verify if students are citizens or have legal status before they can enroll. Alexander Vallejos, a Dreamer under the federal DACA program, expressed his concerns about the decision. Vallejos came to Florida from South America with his parents when he was just a year old and is now a first-generation immigrant college student at the University of Central Florida studying computer science.
Vallejos first earned his associate’s degree from Palm Beach State College, something he said wasn’t easy. “We come from almost nothing and limited opportunities. When you graduate high school, not only are you already limited from all these government-funded scholarships, you don’t get financial aid, and now there’s no in-state tuition, and you’re already fighting, right? And on top of that, you don’t really have much guidance,” Vallejos said.
He worked two jobs to pay his way at PBSC, also supporting his family in the process. He said he empathizes with current students at state colleges and their families now grappling with this decision. “I would think it’s taking away their whole life. I’m sure that everything they’re working towards that’s like really the only path, especially when you’re undocumented. Like you’re already so limited in what jobs you can even do, like even more in education now. So now you’re taking away the one thing that they had,” Vallejos said.
WPBF 25 News reached out to Palm Beach State College for comment and received a statement in response: “Palm Beach State College will comply with all applicable state and federal laws and with the requirements set forth by the Florida Board of Education.”
Original reporting: WPBF West Palm Beach — read the source article.
