The Florida Board of Education voted in September to ban undocumented students from district-run postsecondary education and dual enrollment programs.
The measure, which is mandated to take effect Spring 2027, expands on regulations adopted in June and September restricting undocumented students’ access to Florida public colleges, GED programs and universities.
Implementation
To comply with the decision, as of Aug. 5 Alachua County Public Schools require adults enrolling in adult high school or English for Speakers of Other Languages courses to prove U.S. citizenship or legal status. This falls before the board’s Spring deadline.
In 2021, more than 70,000 adult English learners were enrolled in English language acquisition in Florida, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
ACPS spokesperson Jackie Johnson said the district is requesting documentation like passports, birth certificates and permanent resident cards for enrollment starting this Fall.
Enrollment staff will inspect the documents during registration but won’t keep copies of them, she added.
The board’s ruling also affects dual enrollment students, sixth through 12th graders earning credits at a local college or university. In Alachua County, students can take courses at Santa Fe College or UF.
Colleges and universities will be responsible for checking documentation — a decision reached in the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe, which guarantees undocumented students access to tuition-free K-12 public education.
ACPS won’t screen dual enrollment students itself and is not permitted to request immigration status, Johnson said.
Lisa Brosky, Santa Fe’s marketing and communications associate vice president, wrote in an email that the institution is currently working to implement policies that comply with the Board of Education’s latest rulings. The policies are pending approval from the Santa Fe Board of Trustees, she added.
The screening applies to newly admitted, readmitted and dual enrollment students, Brosky said. Students admitted to the college before the policies' implementation won’t be screened unless they later leave and apply to be readmitted, she added.
Santa Fe annually hosts more than 1,000 dual enrollment students from Alachua County and neighboring counties.
“At this time, we have no way to predict how many applicants might be unable to provide proof of citizenship or lawful presence,” Brosky said.
UF spokesperson Cynthia Roldán did not respond for comment after two emails and a phone call.
Community reactions
The latest restriction has garnered split reactions across Alachua County.
Tim Marden, the chairman of the Alachua County Republican Party and mayor of Newberry, defended the state’s restrictions.
“America should make every effort to ensure American citizens are prioritized when it comes to public expenditures,” Marden wrote in an email. “America cannot afford to continue incentivizing non-citizens to come here.”
But local educators and immigrant advocates have expressed concern the restrictions will disrupt access to education and discourage students from participating in advanced academic programs.
Claire Noguerol, a school counselor at Gainesville High School and a member of immigrant advocacy group Gainesville Immigrant Neighbor Inclusion Initiative, said she’s worried the decision will decrease participation among families.
Noguerol expects the policy to lessen enrollment in adult education programs, she said, impacting parents who have attended the classes for years.
She also said she’s worried about participation in dual enrollment programs. Families in the process of applying to them may shy away from the opportunity as they fear giving out information, she added.
Applicants with irregular immigration status might withdraw out of fear of exposing their families to unsafe situations, she said.
"I just really hope that K-12 is protected and remains protected and that we are not put in a position where we have to require or inquire about student legal status," Noguerol said.
Concerns surrounding the decision extend to UF students.
Harper Miller, a 21-year-old UF psychology and political science senior and the president of UF College Democrats, said enrollment regulations will likely be a hurdle to education access.
“This will only present additional barriers and difficulties for genuinely passionate and motivated individuals who are ready and already contributing to our community,” Miller said. “I think it shows that the priorities are in the wrong place when it comes to changing policies for our education system.”
Contact Ray Garcia at rgarcia@alligator.org. Follow him on X @raygarciafl.
Ray Garcia is a first-year Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law and Public Relations double major at UF, serving as this fall's K-12 education reporter. This is Ray's first semester at The Alligator. Outside of writing for The Alligator, you can often find him spending time with friends, reading, listening to music, or sidequesting around Gainesville.
