Florida is banning illegal immigrants from enrolling at selective state universities.
On Thursday, Florida’s State University System Board of Governors approved a rule banning people “present in the United States unlawfully” from initial enrollment at state universities that do not “admit all academically qualified applicants.”
The ban will take effect in the 2027-2028 academic year.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis praised the decision on Thursday.
“Glad to see the Board of Governors ratify the prohibition on illegal alien students at our colleges and universities,” he wrote on social media. “Always need to put Floridians — and Americans — first.”
Republican Lt. Gov. Jay Collins also voiced his support on social media.
“Florida’s public universities are for students who are here legally. Period,” he wrote. “Florida taxpayers should not be expected to subsidize opportunities for people who broke our laws to come here.”
In 2021, the American Immigration Council, a pro-immigration nonprofit, estimated Florida’s “number of undocumented college students” at 40,000.
Democratic state Rep. Anna V. Eskamani opposed the decision in a Friday statement, saying the board voted to “slam the door on kids who have done everything we asked of them.”
She continued, “This is such bad policy that the legislature never passed it. It does not make Florida stronger; it hurts our economy and is cruel for the sake of being cruel.”
South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia also ban illegal immigrants from public university enrollment.
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