Higher Education Dream Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1701 To prohibit discrimination in higher education against certain noncitizen students on the basis of immigration status, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 22, 2023 Mr. GALLEGO (for himself, Mr. STANTON, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. SOTO, Ms. BARRAGA´N, and Ms. GARCIA of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con- cerned A BILL To prohibit discrimination in higher education against certain noncitizen students on the basis of immigration status, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Higher Education 4 Dream Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1701.IH H1701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 1701 IH SEC. 2. HIGHER EDUCATION FOR DREAMER STUDENTS. 1 Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 2 (20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 3 the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 124. NONDISCRIMINATION AGAINST DREAMER STU- 5 DENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION. 6 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY.—An institution of higher edu- 7 cation that receives Federal funds or financial assistance 8 under any Federal program shall not prohibit a Dreamer 9 student from applying for admission, nor shall it prohibit 10 a Dreamer student who is accepted to that institution 11 from enrolling. 12 ‘‘(b) ADMISSIONS.—An institution of higher edu- 13 cation that receives Federal funds or financial assistance 14 under any Federal program shall not discriminate against 15 or penalize in the admissions process a Dreamer student 16 who is otherwise qualified for admission to the institution, 17 on the basis of that individual’s immigration status, nor 18 shall such an institution differentiate in the admissions 19 process on the basis of residency between a United States 20 citizen applicant and a Dreamer student applying from the 21 same State. 22 ‘‘(c) TUITION RATE.—An institution of higher edu- 23 cation that receives Federal funds or financial assistance 24 under any Federal program shall not charge a greater rate 25 of tuition than the rate charged for residents of the State 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1701.IH H1701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 1701 IH in which the institution is located to a Dreamer student 1 who, but for such individual’s immigration status, other- 2 wise qualifies as a resident of the State in which the insti- 3 tution is located. 4 ‘‘(d) REMEDIES.—An institution of higher education 5 that violates subsection (a), (b), or (c) shall be subject to 6 the remedies described in sections 454 and 455 of the 7 General Education Provisions Act (8 U.S.C. 1234c, 8 1234d). 9 ‘‘(e) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.— 10 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—No officer or employee of 11 the United States, of a State, or of an institution of 12 higher education that receives Federal funds or fi- 13 nancial assistance under any Federal program to 14 which a Dreamer student applies for admission or 15 enrolls, may— 16 ‘‘(A) use the information furnished by the 17 Dreamer student to arrest, detain, or initiate 18 removal proceedings against any person identi- 19 fied in that information; 20 ‘‘(B) make any publication whereby the in- 21 formation furnished by any particular Dreamer 22 student can be identified; or 23 ‘‘(C) permit anyone other than an officer 24 or employee of the Federal Government or the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1701.IH H1701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 1701 IH institution of higher education to which a 1 Dreamer student applies or enrolls, to examine 2 any information provided by a Dreamer student 3 relating to that individual’s immigration status 4 or qualifications to be a Dreamer student. 5 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Whoever knowingly uses, pub- 6 lishes, or permits information to be examined in vio- 7 lation of this subsection shall be fined not more than 8 $50,000. 9 ‘‘(f) DEFINITION OF DREAMER STUDENT.—In this 10 section, the term ‘Dreamer student’ means an individual 11 who— 12 ‘‘(1) is not a national of the United States (as 13 defined in section 101(a)(21) of the Immigration 14 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(21))); 15 ‘‘(2) maintains a residence in the United States 16 (as defined in section 101(a)(33) of such Act (8 17 U.S.C. 1101(33))); 18 ‘‘(3)(A) is not authorized to be temporarily in 19 the United States under subparagraph (F), (J), (M), 20 or (Q) of section 101(a)(15) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 21 1101(a)(15)); or 22 ‘‘(B) does not have an application pending for 23 the purpose of seeking such authorization; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1701.IH H1701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 1701 IH ‘‘(4)(A) possesses a valid document or docu- 1 ments demonstrating that the individual is in a law- 2 ful immigration status in the United States (exclud- 3 ing a nonimmigrant status under subparagraph (F), 4 (J), (M), or (Q) of section 101(a)(15) of such Act 5 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15))); 6 ‘‘(B) possesses a valid document or documents 7 demonstrating that the individual is lawfully present 8 in the United States (excluding lawful presence, or 9 a pending application, under any of such subpara- 10 graphs); 11 ‘‘(C) possesses an expired document or docu- 12 ments demonstrating that the individual, in the past, 13 was granted— 14 ‘‘(i) deferred action pursuant to the De- 15 ferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy an- 16 nounced by the Secretary of Homeland Security 17 on June 15, 2012; 18 ‘‘(ii) temporary protected status under sec- 19 tion 244 of the Immigration and Nationality 20 Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a); 21 ‘‘(iii) Deferred Enforced Departure; or 22 ‘‘(iv) status as the son or daughter of an 23 alien admitted as a nonimmigrant under sub- 24 paragraph (E)(i), (E)(ii), (H)(i)(b), or (L) of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1701.IH H1701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 1701 IH section 101(a)(15) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1 1101(a)(15)); or 2 ‘‘(D) would have been eligible for deferred ac- 3 tion pursuant to the Deferred Action for Childhood 4 Arrivals policy announced by the Secretary of Home- 5 land Security on June 15, 2012, if not for the court 6 orders of the United States Court of Appeals for the 7 Fifth Circuit in Texas et al. v. United States of 8 America et al., No. 21–40680 (Oct. 5, 2022) and 9 the United States District Court for the Southern 10 District of Texas in Texas, et al., v. United States 11 of America, et al., 1:18–CV–00068, (July 16, 2021), 12 and has never engaged in conduct that would render 13 the individual ineligible for that relief; 14 ‘‘(5) was 18 years of age or younger on the 15 date on which the individual initially entered the 16 United States; 17 ‘‘(6) has provided a list of each secondary 18 school that the student attended in the United 19 States; and 20 ‘‘(7)(A) has earned a high school diploma, the 21 recognized equivalent of such diploma from a sec- 22 ondary school, or a high school equivalency diploma 23 in the United States or is scheduled to complete the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1701.IH H1701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 1701 IH requirements for such a diploma or equivalent before 1 the next academic year begins; 2 ‘‘(B) has acquired a degree from an institution 3 of higher education or is enrolled in a program for 4 a baccalaureate degree or higher degree at an insti- 5 tution of higher education in the United States; or 6 ‘‘(C) has served in the uniformed services, as 7 defined in section 101 of title 10, United States 8 Code, for not less than 4 years and, if discharged, 9 received an honorable discharge.’’. 10 SEC. 3. FEDERAL AID ELIGIBILITY. 11 Section 484(a)(5) of the Higher Education Act of 12 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091(a)(5)) is amended by inserting ‘‘a 13 Dreamer student (as defined in section 124(f)),’’ after 14 ‘‘permanent resident of the United States,’’. 15 SEC. 4. REPEAL OF PROHIBITION. 16 Section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 17 Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1623) is 18 repealed. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1701.IH H1701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB