TAMPA, Fla. — Some students who could be impacted by a legislative proposal targeting immigration said they might not be able to pay for school if tuition fee waivers for a certain group come to an end.
Diego Alonso Dulanto Falcon Tanaka knows what it’s like to chase the American dream. He came to the US from Lima, Peru when he was four years old.
"I don't remember much about the journey here,” he said. “I do know that we overstayed our tourist visa and just never went back, and so for the first 11 or so years that I was here, I was undocumented."
Diego is a DACA recipient now. He recently graduated from USF and is now applying to grad school at the university.
He’s also part of the student group USF UndocUnited.
"My personal aim is to like advocate for these students because I know what it's like to feel alone,” Diego said.
Now, the Governor is pushing for changes to higher education that would impact students like him.
"We work really hard to make higher education affordable for Floridians, and we're proud of that,” said Governor Ron DeSantis during a press conference Thursday.
Last week, Governor DeSantis announced a legislative proposal that would get rid of out-of-state tuition fee waivers for undocumented immigrant students.
"The costs have changed,” DeSantis said. “So if we want to hold the line on tuition, then you gotta say, you need to be a US citizen who lives in Florida. Why would we subsidize non-US citizens when we want to make sure we can keep it affordable for our own people."
Ahmad Yakzan is an immigration attorney with the American Dream Law Office in Tampa. He weighed in on what he thinks the state stands to lose.
"We're going to have a brain drain here in the state if we keep doing this to people who are educated, and as I said, they're in the top of school and in SATs and all that stuff. College graduates, a lot of them are doctors, lawyers,” said Yakzan.
Diego said he wouldn’t be able to afford grad school if this legislation were to pass and is instead left wondering what will happen next.
"We want to be able to help this society and this economy, and the only way to do that, especially now, is to obtain a higher education,” Diego said.
