(Stock photo by Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images)
While the Tennessee Legislature is considering a bill allowing school districts to refuse enrollment to students without legal permanent status, Florida Republican Sen. Joe Gruters says such a measure is a nonstarter in Florida.
The Tennessee bill would go against a 40-year-old U.S. Supreme Court precedent that prohibiting kids’ access to public schools based on immigration status was unconstitutional.
Florida’s Republican-led Legislature hasn’t exactly shied away from passing other constitutionally questionable laws. But not in this case, Gruters told reporters Wednesday.
“It’s not gonna happen, not here,” he said.
Gruters, of Southwest Florida, is a sponsor of legislation intended to bolster immigration enforcement to help President Trump fulfill his promise of mass deportations.
In the meantime, Gruters and other Republicans are poised to repeal on Thursday a waiver granting in-state tuition to students who lack permanent legal status.
Brevard County Republican Sen. Randy Fine, the main lawmaker pushing for the repeal of the tuition waivers, agreed that excluding immigrant students from public schools is against standing federal law.
“By the way, you know, in two months, that might be something I go to work on,” he said. Fine is running for Congress in a Republican district.
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