Sponsor shelves Tennessee's undocumented immigrants tuition bill

During an emotional speech Wednesday, Rep. Mark White announced he would not revive his bill to secure in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants at public colleges, ending a years-long effort that won support from colleges and Gov. Bill Haslam.

White, R-Memphis, said earlier this month that he was optimistic the bill would return to the House floor before the end of the session. But while discussing the House effort to override a veto on the Bible bill, White remarked that he would not try to get the bill passed because it did not have enough support.

White said undocumented students cried in his office Tuesday when he informed them of his intentions.

More than 100 undocumented students had traveled to the Capitol last week to encourage legislators to reconsider the bill, which passed the Senate last year but failed in the House by one vote.

Undocumented students urge new life for tuition bill

This year, a floor vote in the House would have been enough to send the bill to Haslam's desk. But because 2017 marks the beginning of a new legislative session, the bill will have to start from scratch if it is reintroduced.

Under state law, undocumented immigrants who want to go to public colleges must pay out-of-state rates that are often two or three times higher than those offered to Tennessee citizens.

White's bill, which was sponsored by Sen. Todd Gardenhire in the Senate, would have given some undocumented students in-state tuition. It had support from Haslam and dozens of lawmakers, including some conservative Republicans who had been vocal opponents in the past. Critics in the House of Representatives said last year such a change would give undocumented students an unfair advantage over U.S. citizens.

Advocates and undocumented students blasted lawmakers in a statement Wednesday from the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, which has lobbied aggressively for the legislation for four years.

"Legislators chose to deny students an opportunity at higher education and focus on issues like who can use which bathroom," said Eben Cathey, advocacy director at TIRRC, referencing the controversial transgender bathroom bill that dominated headlines during the session. "The lack of political courage and misguided priorities will keep thousands of students out of college this year."

Vitor Goncalves, a McGavock High School senior who moved to the United States from Brazil with his family when he was 2, said he didn't know if he'd be able to go to college without in-state tuition in the fall.

"Our legislators didn't have the political courage to allow students like me to pay in-state tuition, even though I've lived here my whole life and there is broad support," Goncalves said in the statement. "I graduate in May and want to get an engineering degree, but now I don't know if I'll be able to go to college at all. I'm frustrated because their failure to do the right thing doesn't only affect me, but thousands of students across the state."

Reach Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5986 and on Twitter @tamburintweets,

In-state tuition for children of undocumented parents tests the philosophically pure