Florida's Legislature tried twice to ban illegal aliens from state universities and quit both times.
Ron DeSantis found a board that wouldn't quit.
Ron DeSantis just did what that Florida Legislature refused to do – and not one board member voted no.
DeSantis Went Around the Politicians Who Wouldn't Act
The Florida Legislature filed bills in 2026 to make this happen.
Both died in committee without a floor vote.
So DeSantis did what any America First governor does when politicians lose their nerve – he used the board he'd already stacked.
Fourteen of the Board of Governors' 17 members are DeSantis appointees.
They voted unanimously.
Lt. Gov. Jay Collins put it in terms even the Legislature could understand: "Florida's public universities are for students who are here legally. Period."
https://twitter.com/ReOpenChris/status/2070896031789682892?s=20
He added the part the Legislature apparently forgot: "Florida taxpayers should not be expected to subsidize opportunities for people who broke our laws to come here."
Earlier this year, DeSantis had already called allowing illegal aliens into state universities "a slap in the face" to Florida citizens.
After Thursday's vote he kept it simple: "Always need to put Floridians – and Americans – first."
Three States Already Proved This Works
South Carolina became the first state in the nation to ban undocumented students from public colleges and universities – in 2008.
Alabama and Georgia followed within a few years.
For 18 years, those three states have prioritized their own citizens in their own public university systems – and the sky did not fall.
Now Florida, the nation's third-largest state, has joined them with a proven model the rest of the country spent two decades ignoring.
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2094826828804309065?s=20
The difference now is that Florida's 12 public universities – including the University of Florida, Florida State University, and the University of Central Florida – carry a national profile that Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina never had.
When Florida acts, other states notice.
The Numbers the Left Doesn't Want You Thinking About
Here are the figures the advocacy groups don't mention when they're testifying before school boards.
During the 2024–2025 academic year, at least 4,672 undocumented students were enrolled in Florida state colleges, with an estimated 2,000 more at state universities.
Those students were receiving tuition waivers – paying in-state rates despite having no legal status in the United States.
In-state tuition at Florida universities runs roughly $5,992 a year.
Out-of-state runs $20,719.
Florida was handing the difference to people who had no legal right to be in this country in the first place.
The advocacy groups warn that the ban will cost colleges $15 million in lost tuition revenue.
Think about what they're actually arguing: that the solution to illegal immigration is to keep subsidizing it with taxpayer dollars because the revenue has become too convenient to give up.
That's not an argument.
That's a racket.
This Is What America First Governance Actually Looks Like
The opponents showed up at the board meeting with their talking points.
Eight speakers testified – all of them urging the board to vote no.
A professor called it "overreach."
A student said public universities should "expand opportunities."
The board heard every word.
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Then voted unanimously anyway.
That's how governing works when politicians have a spine.
DeSantis didn't start yesterday on immigration enforcement.
In February 2025, he signed legislation repealing in-state tuition waivers for undocumented students – a benefit that had been in place since 2014 under a bipartisan law signed by Gov. Rick Scott.
You don't let people in the country illegally pay reduced tuition.
Then you don't let them enroll at all.
Then every other state in America watches Florida – and some of them find their nerve.
Florida just handed the rest of the country a blueprint, the same way Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina handed Florida one nearly two decades ago.
The only question now is which governor picks it up next.
Sources:
- "Florida blocks undocumented students from state universities," FOX 35 Orlando, September 4, 2026.
- "Florida bans undocumented students from selective public universities," Higher Ed Dive, September 4, 2026.
- "Florida bans illegal immigrants from state universities," The Washington Times, September 5, 2026.
- "Florida blocks undocumented students from state universities," NBC 6 South Florida, September 3, 2026.
- Ron DeSantis, post on X, September 3, 2026.
