Investigators: Are Taxes Covering Cost Of Educating Foreigners?

www.click10.com Posted: 1:19 p.m. EST February 26, 2003

Are Florida taxpayers being hoodwinked into paying to educate foreign visitors? According to a Channel 10 investigation, that's exactly what's happening at at least one Miami-Dade Public School.

It's the same school where investigative reporter Jilda Unruh, three years ago, discovered staff brazenly enrolling adult tourists as Florida residents for free English classes, paid for by you the taxpayer.

Unruh: In light of the state revenue shortfalls, you'd think the legislature and the Miami-Dade School District would be doing everything in their power to clamp down on the the unnecessary expenditure of taxpayer dollars. But, as you're about to see, the same loophole in the law we uncovered three years ago, continues to allow foreign visitors to get an education on your tab.

Unruh: According to their passports, they came from Argentina, Peru, Italy, Brazil and Uruguay. And, not one of them has been authorized by the INS to stay in the United States of America longer than 6 months. In fact, according to the INS, and according to them, they are tourists. Sharon Fernandez is from Venezuela.

Unruh: Are you a tourist?

Sharon Fernandez/Foreign Tourist: A tourist? Yes.

Unruh: So you are not a resident of the State of Florida?

Fernandez: No. No. I'm going back to Venezuela.

Unruh: Yet, Sharon is one of more than half a dozen tourists, who should have been charged a fee for English classes. But, according to documents we obtained, they've all been enrolled in the last two months, as Florida residents at Feinberg/Fisher Adult education center on Miami Beach, entitling them to free English instruction while they're visiting, paid for by you, the taxpayer. Andre Augusto de Carvalho from Brazil is another, according to his roommate.

Unruh: So, he's just a tourist?

Roommate: Yes.

Unruh: But don't just take a roommate's word for it. Take a look at copies of the INS, I-94 tourist visas, which we obtained. In each case, it shows the person's entry date into and scheduled departure date from the United States. Government proof they are tourists. Just one problem: The school district's policy doesn't ask enrollees for these documents. Mayco Villafana is spokesman for the district.

Unruh: The district isn't asking for documents that unequivocally prove they're tourists? Mayco Villafana/Miami-Dade School Spokesman: Correct.

Unruh: Why?

Villafana: Well, we're not asking for that information because state law doesn't require it.

Unruh: That's right! State law doesn't require it, because the Florida legislature has never defined, who is and who isn't, a Florida resident when it comes to adult basic education.

Villafana: The state of Florida law right now is silent when it comes to adult education.

Unruh: Three years ago (May 2001), the Channel 10 Investigators first exposed employees at Feinberg/Fisher adult enrolling tourists as Florida residents, even though they'd admitted they were not.

Foreign Tourist: As I am French, I just put France on it and they just erased it and put Florida resident.

Unruh: This time, we discovered a different problem, but tourists are still getting a free education. After our first investigation, the district issued specific guidelines for verifying residency, actually going above and beyond state law. One of the items enrollees must show is a court sworn declaration of domicile which is the exact document each of our tourists provided, including Sharon from Venezuela. She told us, school officials told her she needed it to enroll for free.

Fernandez: They told me that I can sign up. That its assistance from the government.

Unruh: Martha Montaner is principal at Feinberg/Fisher adult.

Montaner: That's certainly not the practice of this school. We would have to look into it.

Unruh: Will you concede that a person who is only here six months is not a resident?

Villafana: Well, I don't know that. It's far-fetched to think that tourists who only came for a very small amount of time want to take English courses or other vocational classes.

Unruh: Perhaps Villafana and district administrators should meet Sharon Fernandez. Asked why she was taking English classes if she was going back to Venezuela to have her baby, she told us:

Fernandez: To help me in Venezuela. To better my job.

Unruh: Nice for Sharon, but should Florida taxpayers be helping her, and others like her, to get better jobs in foreign countries?

Villafana: We're taking them at their word. Unruh: You're supposed to be the gatekeepers for the taxpayer. You're willing to take people at their word to spend taxpayer dollars?

Villafana: I'm saying that we're taking people at their word so that we can educate them.

Unruh: The district insists it is not an arm of the INS. According to the INS website, a "tourist" is defined as "a non-immigrant or temporary visitor for pleasure, not for permanent residence." State law, however, provides no such definition for adult education. And, as we've shown, you the taxpayer will continue to pay, until the legislature closes that loophole, defines a Florida resident and demands district enforcement.

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