BILL NUMBER: S5121
SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to affidavits of the
lawful immigration status of certain students; and to repeal certain
provisions of such law relating thereto
 
PURPOSE:
Since 2002, when NYS authorized undocumented students to pay in-state
college tuition, students without legal status have been required to
file an affidavit with their campus. This legislation will repeal all
sections of law requiring such affidavit.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Sections 1 thru 5 amend education law to repeal existing law requiring
the filling of affidavit by college student attesting to their attempts
to legalize their immigration status.
Section 6 is the enactment date of the new law.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Giant steps were made in 2002 when New York State allowed undocumented
college students to pay instate-tuition if they met a set of standards
and requirements. One of those requirements was that impacted students
would be required to file an affidavit with the higher education insti-
tution that attested that the student was in the process to legalize
their immigration status. Unfortunately, before and after the 2016 pres-
idential election, many students who feared being identified by the
federal government as being undocumented decided not to enroll in
college due to the requirement to file such an affidavit. College advi-
sors have given testimony at higher education conferences that the affi-
davit has become a discouragement and barrier to student enrollment. In
as much as the City University of New York identified and tried to solve
this problem and has provided a standard affidavit for impacted students
to complete during enrollment and application periods, this requirement'
continues to be burdensome. Legislation addressing this problem is need-
ed and this bill repeals all sections of existing laws requiring such
affidavit Lingering questions as to the continued negative impact of the
2002 law remain as there are more undocumented students eligible to
attend higher education institutions after the passage of the Dream Act
in 2019. It is important for that our public higher education institu-
tion remove artificial barriers that limit immigrant student's college
enrollment. This legislation solves this problem and removes bureaucrat-
ic paperwork requirements for both SUNY and CUNY.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: S8365 - Referred to Higher Education/ A6991 - referred to Higher
Education
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
On the sixtieth day after it shall have become law.

Statutes affected:
S5121: 6206 education law, 6206(7) education law, 6301 education law, 6301(5) education law