By ,
Published January 02, 2017
Undocumented immigrants in California can now receive the same tuition breaks as other students after a ruling by the state's Supreme Court.
The decision on Monday only affects students in California. Still, it was closely watched nationally because nine other states, including New York, have similar laws.
The charged decision, which was unanimous, has already been challenged. Republican congressmen Lamar S. Smith and Steve King, of Texas and Iowa, respectively, filed a so-called friends of the court brief. It urged that undocumented immigrants be denied the reduced rate.
The lawsuit considered by the court was part of a broader legal assault led by immigration legal scholar Kris Kobach, who has filed numerous cases across the country seeking to restrict the rights of illegal immigrants.
He represented a group of U.S. students who filed the lawsuit seeking to invalidate the California law.
Kobach said he would appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Led by politically conservative Justice Ming Chin, the California Supreme Court said the provision was constitutional because U.S. residents also had access to the reduced rates.
The California Legislature passed the controversial measure in 2001 that allowed any student, regardless of immigration status, who attended a California high school for at least three years and graduated to qualify for in-state tuition at the state's colleges and universities. In-state tuition saves each state college student about $11,000 a year and each University of California student about $23,000 a year.
A state appellate court ruled in 2008 the law was unconstitutional after a group of out-of-state students who are U.S. citizens filed a lawsuit. The suit alleged the measure violated federal prohibitions barring undocumented immigrants from receiving post-secondary benefits not available to U.S. citizens based on state residency.
However, the state Supreme Court noted the California law says nothing about state residency, a distinction that foes of the plan said shouldn't matter. Kobach said the federal legislation was meant to prohibit exactly what the California Supreme Court allowed for illegal immigrants on Monday.
"It presents a rather incomprehensible reading of the federal statute," Kobach said.
The Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation, which supports numerous political efforts, said the spirit of federal law was to deny tuition breaks to undocumented immigrants.
Foundation attorney Ralph Kasarda, who submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, said California was not in sync with the federal mandate against showing favoritism to undocumented immigrants.
"California's policy is also atrocious financial stewardship," he said.
The state law also requires illegal immigrants who apply for the in-state tuition to swear they will attempt to become U.S. citizens. The applicants are still barred from receiving federal financial aid.
"Through their hard work and perseverance, these students have earned the opportunity to attend UC," said University of California president Mark G. Yudof. "Their accomplishments should not be disregarded or their futures jeopardized."
Kobach also failed to invalidate a similar law in Kansas. His lawsuit in Nebraska is pending.
The law professor was the chief drafter of Arizona's tough new laws against undocumented immigrants, which is pending before a federal appeals court.
He was elected earlier this month to serve as secretary of state in Kansas.
Democratic leaders in Washington, D.C., are mulling whether to try to pass immigration reform measures before they lose control of the House of Representatives in January.
During his re-election campaign, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., promised to try to get a vote on the "DREAM Act," which would create a path to citizenship for youth living in the country without documents who attend college or join the military.
White House spokesman Luís Miranda said the administration welcomes any opportunity for Congress to take up the proposal. The legislation "is important to both our national security and our economy," Miranda said.
Meanwhile, retiring Republican Florida Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart is seeking a vote on proposed legislation giving states the option to allow undocumentedl immigrant students to pay in-state tuition.
"Allowing undocumented students to attend primary and secondary schools but requiring that they pay out-of-state tuition for college creates an unfair financial burden," Diaz-Balart said.
Based on reporting by the Associated Press. AP writer Suzanne Gamboa in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
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