Alabama House passes bill allowing some undocumented immigrants to attend college

Rep. Reed Ingram, R-Pike Road, speaks to colleagues on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives before the start of the session on Feb. 6, 2024 in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

The Alabama House of Representatives Tuesday approved a measure that would allow some students living in the country illegally to attend public higher education in the state.

HB 210, sponsored by Rep. Reed Ingram, R-Pike Road, would allow students in the U.S. without legal permission to attend one of Alabama’s post-secondary institutions, if they have applied for legal status and  attended high school for three years and have a high school diploma, GED or equivalent.

“These are the students who are wanting to better themselves and make it a better place. These are the ones that are not going to end up on the streets. These are the ones that have to apply for legal status and have to go to school in the country,” Ingram said.

The bill passed 89-10.

Undocumented students are barred from attending public higher education in the state under HB 56, the 2011 law that aimed to criminalize the immigrants in the state without legal permission. Federal courts later gutted much of the law, but the bar on higher education remained.

Rep. Brock Colvin, R-Albertville, offered an amendment to bar the state from providing financial aid to eligible students, saying taxpayers already “invested so much money” to provide a K-12 education and that it wouldn’t be a “return on investment” if they don’t stay in Alabama.

“My intent with this amendment is basically to prevent any more taxpayer money going to these kids who go to college. I respect them wanting to go to college, but I think it’s up to them to pay their own way to go to college,” Colvin said.

His amendment got pushback from both Democrats and Republicans.

Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, said the amendment was “rather heartless.”

“We’re trying to do something about the workforce in Alabama, and while we’re trying to take two steps forward, this amendment is going to push us back three steps,” she said.

Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, who chairs the Ways and Means Education committee, said if the students end up living the state after getting a K-12 education, saying that “we don’t put those handcuffs on anyone else.”

“What I’m saying is, if you do this, make this investment, and then tell them basically to leave, which is I think what would happen, I don’t think they come back,” Garrett said.

Rep. A.J. McCampbell, D-Linden, said that “the things you do often say a lot more than you may think they are saying.”

“When you talk about people that have come to America. They have one word, and I think that’s a word that all of us need to aspire to — and that’s hope. They have hope in their hearts when they come here,” McCampbell said.

Colvin withdrew his amendment.

According to a 2023 Chronicle of Higher Education article, Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia passed enrollment bans around immigrants during a wave of anti-immigration sentiment. Students had been able to enroll under DACA, but some students lost that ability during litigation.

Relatively few immigrants come to Alabama. According to the U.S. Census, only 3.8% of Alabama’s population is foreign-born, compared to 14% nationwide.

The bill moves to the Senate for consideration. The bill needs two more legislative days to pass; there are six days left in the current session.

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