California Supreme Court hears case that would bar illegal immigrants from receiving in-state tuition at public colleges

The California Supreme Court appeared skeptical Tuesday of a lawsuit that would end in-state tuition for an estimated 25,000 illegal immigrants who attend the state's public universities and colleges.

The court is reviewing an appeals court ruling that said the state is barred by federal immigration law from giving illegal immigrants in-state tuition, which can be as much as $19,000 a year cheaper than fees charged to out-of-state students.

At issue is a 2001 state law that provides the lower tuition for students, including illegal immigrants, who attend and graduate from a California high school.

A lawsuit before the court contends that the state requirement is preempted by a federal law that prohibits states from using residency requirements to give educational benefits to illegal immigrants when the benefit is not also offered to citizens.

During a special session in Fresno, some of the justices noted that the state law provided benefits to citizens as well as illegal immigrants. Out-of-state citizens who attend high school in California also are eligible for the lower in-state college tuition under the law.

"It doesn't say anything about residence," Justice Joyce L. Kennard said.

The case was brought by a conservative group on behalf of out-of-state students who paid higher tuition at California colleges than illegal immigrants who graduated from California high schools.

A ruling is expected within 90 days. If the court upholds the state law, the case is expected to be appealed to the more conservative U.S. Supreme Court.

-- Maura Dolan in Fresno

Comments

[D. Bright]

I've only lived in CA for three years. I now understand why people in other states make fun of CA. The deficit is a direct result of dishonest politicians who believe in class warfare, who initiate insane policies like this one before the CA Supreme Ct, and who do not know the difference between the words "legal" and "illegal." How smart can they be? But the genuinely "stupid" people are the voters who chase some utopian ideal and continue to vote these people into office. I know little about Meg Whitman, but isn't Jerry Brown the fool that was once the governor of CA. Californians truly get the politicians, deficits, poor leadership that they deserve!

[pissed off]

My son had a cummulative 3.9 GPA had 300+ service hours and was on the swim team, and could not get into a UC school. We had to use our home equity to send him to a comparable out of state school and pay non-resident tuition.I guess the legal, Illegals must be sitting in one of those desks as we speak. We Californians are pathetically stupid, bend over, smile and pay-up. Thanks all you progressives!

[Luis Lomeli]

The continual flow of talent via new immigrants has made America a great country. Not educating these highly qualified immigrants would deny our nation the intellectual resource therein.

[dhwj]

California can easily afford to pay for the education of illegal aliens. A simple increase in the sales tax by only 5% would more than pay for both education and reasonable welfare assistance to all illegals. Why is everyone being so selfish?

[Laila Leah]

I fault the citizens and voters of California for allowing this to happen. Each year the VOTERS allow state legislators to introduce and pass legislation that allow things such as this. Of course, this law was the brainchild of the Latino Caucus that is unapologetically Latino biased not matter how much it violates the rights of U.S. citizens and the U.S. Constitution. Voters must be more active in organizing, writing letters, telling elected officers what they expect, and finally and most important, ACTING ON IT!!! Run them out of office and demand that they serve your interests, not the citizens of Mexico, Guatemala, etc, etc, etc...You have the power, use it.

[What don't you get about being illegal???]

Under no circumstances should illegal immigrants receive any public or tax payer support. They should not be allowed in any of our schools public or private. They do not deserve to be in this country. The only support they should get is a bus ticket back to their home country.
They do not respect the laws of the United States and they are cheating others from legally moving here.

[jojo]

giving illegals benefits is one of the main things taking this country apart.
NO sane citizen wants to give tax dollars to support the citizens of OTHER COUNTRIES.
We'd just as soon watch the whole thing come apart ...which it soon will

[netzero]

We are our own worst enemy. What other nation would provide in-state tuition to an illegal immigrant! This is absurd.

[Steven M.]

Park McGraw wrote- "an estimated 25,000 illegal immigrants who attend the state's public universities and colleges"

The leaders of California and it's public colleges are out of touch.
==============================================
And they get and additional "free-ride" with:
CALGrants
WIC
Pell Grants
Student Aid
and other goodies the "We the Peeps" don't get.

DREAM Act? You've got to be kidding!!!!!

[Molon Labe]

The problem here is the people who you elected and mainly the liberal demoncrats who think that illegal aliens have the right. No the illegal aliens do not have the right to even be here. Look at (Nicky Diaz)the Meg Whitman maid, who is she trying to kid, she is Gloria dumb idiot Alreds client. Now who do you think is footing the bill and telling her what to say? All illegal aliens are here for the free ride and yes they do collect welfare. Check it out. The mexicans are thieves and all the do is take this country for a ride. It stops in Novemeber people.

[Matt]

As a Libertarian, I am opposed to any public education. The reality is that now we have public education. Like it or not, children of illegal aliens are members of the public. If they have lived all or most of their lives in this State, their parents have been contributing to our society, and these kids should qualify as "residents."

[Eve]

That sounds fair enough. Get in line like everyone else.

[Jeff k.]

Surprise surprise. The knuckle-dragging teabaggers have come snarling and slobbering into the fray with their predictably racist comments. I know, I know, you only hate "illegal" Mexicans, well except for all of that Spanish and that poverty and that third world attitude - you know, all of those code-words you use to avoid having to actually openly reveal your racism.

The key word here, Beckites, is "residency." Say it with me: re - si - den - cy. That means that you live in California, you probably work in California, you pay taxes in California, and you expect that this will go to supporting California schools. When it is time for your child to go to a University, you expect that your tax payments will provide you a break. Because, and here is the key tbaggers, you pay taxes no matter what your immigration status. So go ahead, threaten to leave, maybe even leave. just stop whining that you want to pay the same instate tuition that us residents pay. This case is frivolous, and the conservative clan that brought this case to court should be cited for wasting the court's time. NEXT!

[Jerry]

$.5 billion in subsidies for illegal aliens to attend CA colleges and universities! That's mind boggling.

[Will]

Remember this is California, home of "The Sanctuary City". It's ok for California to disregard federal law but not ok for Arizona to enforce. The idiots in LA, S.F., and Sac need to go away for life, and I do mean prison.
So like not enforcing immigration laws, California will allow us to help pay for the illegals to go to school, when some of the citizens of this country and state cannot afford to. We should just give California back to Mexico, let the idiots in the state government stay and let become citizens of the country the love more than the one they were born in.

[Rev. Bates]

It doesn't appear that most of the people making comments really understood the article. These are children of undocumented immigrants who have graduated through the California school systems. Most have been here the majority of their lives. This is not special treatment but the same treatment that any graduate from a California high school would get.

It appears to me that this Conservative group really wants to keep them undocumented and uneducated so they will be forced to work low-wage-hard-labor-jobs rather then educate themselves out of poverty. And the people who support the Conservatives in this probably have no understanding of what this is all about!

[Joshua]

Should they not be considered foreign students and upon admission show a student visa in their own national passports? That would mean that they have to go back to their native country, apply and wait for a student visa just like many citizens of other countries. To me it's a no-brainer.

[jake]

25,000 illegal aliens who should be deported making room for Americans and legal immigrants to take classes. All this talk of shortage of classes, wait lists, deficits- and American tax payers are paying to subsidized 25,000 foreign nationals who shouldn't even be here? Why isn't the government doing more to deport these illegals and their families before they waste more tax payer money.

[Jack]

25,000 X19,000=475,000,000.00
Four hundred seventy five millions each year .

What is illegal? What is illegal immigrant ? Why the illegal, illegal immigrant can get the benifits . It seems CA welcome the illegal immigrant.

right?

Not only should illegal aliens be prohibited from subsidizing, they should be prohibited from benifit at all.

[Anti-Fa]

Fascists conservatives are using immigrants (as usual) as a scapegoat for their own inability to maintain their allegedly ideology of fiscal responsibility. A significant amount of the states resources are wasted on the prison system which is housing a large number of people convicted of petty offenses like possession without the intent to sell. Sane drug laws, fixing property taxes and innovating green tech will make sure California remains one of the world's top economies. However, if we deprive students in our higher education system, citizen or otherwise, we are only hurting ourselves. End the partisan bickering and realize the implications of your actions.

[V]

OK what most of you do not understand is that illegal immigrants are receiving NO FUNDING (NO state or federal financial aid) to attend public institutions of higher education. They are paying the FULL COST of attendance...so how smart would it be to raise the tuition back up to out-of-state fees where they would more than likely be unable to pay and not attend or drop out? Schools would actually lose money. It would actually cost California a lot of money. HELLO! Also, wouldn't you rather have an educated society, rather than one that refuses to educate the people who are here (legally or not?).

Let me also say that many of these undocumented students who qualify for in-state tuition have been here since they were CHILDREN. Some may not even know that they are here illegally until high school. Is it their fault? Should we refuse an education to those who want it? Having in-state tuition for these students is not rewarding them for being here illegally, thats ridiculous.

[aj]

In response to Tax Paying California Resident's comment that:
"They have not been paying taxes in California and thus do NOT qualify to pay in state tuition."

I don't actually know if that is true. First of all, a lot of citizens/permanent residents that qualify for in-state tuition haven't paid income taxes before, since they may never have worked. Also, their parents may never have paid income taxes because they didn't make enough.

On the other hand, virtually everyone, whether illegal or non-illegal, pays income and sales taxes. This is mandatory. So if the justification is that "illegals" don't pay "taxes", then I don't think that actually makes sense. That is why "illegals" who have actually lived in California, theoretically, should get the same treatment as anyone else who has lived in California.

Also, I don't actually believe that giving "illegals" in-state tuition is much of an incentive for them to come to California, since it is such a trivial expense for most people who are illegal. Nonetheless, it is more of an incentive than not.

Overall though, I understand why someone would be against this policy, since it is so inconsistent with our federal immigration policy. That being said, a lot of these "illegals" are as much residents of California as a natural born resident is.

[Concerned]

Some of these students have been brought into this country in their early childhood without giving their consent to their parents. They must have studied hard (despite less than priviledged environment), got good test scores and were able to get into some pretty selective schools. Now, let's raise their tuition and kick them out to the streets! Cuz we can't deport them and they can't afford to pay higher tuition since we are not giving them student loans or letting them legally work to support themselves. After all, California really needs more burger flippers (not that there's anything wrong with this line of work). Instead of grooming and raising the next generation of Social Security contributors, entrepreneurs, doctors, and attorneys who will keep this state afloat and keep the crime rates down we'll kick 'em out! Way to go California. No wonder you're royally screwed up!

[mediocre]

I joined the USAFRes in August, 1959 and began reserve duty in time for the spring semester at San Jose State. I paid out of state tuition for the first year. Of course, I am a Republican, I have never received welfare or any public assistance of any kind. And, I am not a future Democrat voter.
I appreciate living in California. I do not want California to become like Mexico City where just breathing the air is like smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. With open borders California would jump to 100 million in no time. Public schools would end at grade 8. Existing high schools would be needed to house the endless load of criminals. Our jails and prisons are full already. How many dope gangs and wars do we want in California?

[CR]

Cynthia Stout, That Girl, and other poster are missing the point of Assembly Bill 540. The bill only makes undocumented students eligible for in-state tuition rates. It does not grant them financial aid or other state or federally subsidized educational resources, such as loans. All undocumented students are still barred from receiving such aid. They must pay their tuition out-of-pocket. Most of these students were brought to the U.S. by their parents as infants or children and have grown up knowing no other country. If not for their legal status, they would easily qualify for California residency. They are indistinguishable in most ways from other American youth (although most of the AB540 students I've met in my line of work, on average, are more motivated and academically prepared than the average community college student). We have invested in their K-12 education, we need an educated labor force more than ever in California, and it would be foolish of us, as a society, to keep in place the barriers that prevent these students from graduating from college and making valuable contributions to the only country they've known - America.