On Monday, a group of "Dreamers" and immigrant advocates embarked on a journey called the Freedom Ride for Tuition Fairness.
The term "Dreamers" refers to people who were brought to the U.S. as children without documentation, some of whom are protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.
Starting in Miami, the group bused to Tallahassee. Along the way, they picked up additional students and college graduates who plan to speak out on a law that eliminates in-state tuition for such students.
The sweeping immigration law that includes the tuition provision passed this year in a special session called to address immigration enforcement in Florida.
The tuition waiver once offered was passed in 2014 with bipartisan support.
But the political winds on immigration have shifted. Previous GOP supporters like former Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez — now Florida International University president — oppose the waiver, while U.S. Sen. Rick Scott has been silent on the issue.
Gaby Pacheco is the CEO and president of TheDream.US, a national nonprofit that provides scholarships for "Dreamers." The group organized Monday's Freedom Ride.
"The repeal of [the in-state tuition waiver] was voted on and done in a session with no opportunity to show any form of discussion from the community," said Pacheco.
"It's really disheartening to see how all these young people, who, now, midway through their education, are told 'no, now you have to pay three, four times the tuition.'"
An average of 6,500 students use the waiver for nonresidents each year.
Pacheco said the group plans to urge legislators to let those students continue paying the in-state tuition rate to finish their degrees.
"The ideal thing would be for them to restore it, but I do think that that's a bigger battle that we might not necessarily win," said Pacheco. "We really are going up to Tallahassee to drive home the message that the minimum thing they should do is grandfather in the current 6,000 students who are in college. It's just really unfair for them to have the rug pulled under them."
Martha is a "Dreamer" and Florida International University alumni who used the in-state tuition waiver. She asked WUSF to use just her first name out of fear of being targeted for her immigration status.
She works as a clinical social worker, a path that was only possible because of the tuition benefit, she said.
"It feels unfair for students who have always been a part of this community — like I have been — to have to pay a lot more and kind of being barred out from going to school," said Martha.
Undocumented students, as well as DACA recipients, are not eligible to receive federal funding such as FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), need-based Pell Grants or Florida's Bright Futures scholarship.
"The little that they have, which is the ability to pay the in-state tuition rate like any other Florida resident, that's being taken away," said Pacheco.
Martha said she was able to pay for college with private scholarships. But if tuition were to triple, she's not sure if she would have been able to attend college.
"The price without the waiver is insanely high," said Martha, "it wasn't a possibility for me at all until I found out that the waiver actually existed."
Pacheco said TheDream.US is working with current college students who will be affected by the law if it remains unchanged.
"Juniors and seniors who are so close to graduating and getting their degrees are now having to scramble," said Pacheco. "We have students that are taking two semesters worth of classes between the spring and the summer."
Pacheco said the group plans to speak with legislators on Tuesday.
