Thread: CA Court Strikes Down In-State Tuition for Illegals

I wonder if this could also apply to like Section 8 housing....reduced cost apartments...that all the illegals live in and no room for Americans in them?

Great news...lets hope it holds up...the OBL and its legion of raza lawyers will be going all out to challenge the decision and try to get it reversed.

California’s In-State Tuition Policy for Illegal Aliens Is Unconstitutional, Rules State Appeals Court

WASHINGTON, Sept 16, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ — Precedent Setting Ruling May Be Used to Challenge Many State Benefits for Illegal Aliens, Says Immigration Reform Law Institute

A three judge panel of the California Court of Appeals unanimously ruled Monday that a California law intended to permit illegal aliens to attend public colleges and universities at in-state tuition rates is unconstitutional because it conflicts with federal law, and violates both the equal protection clause and privileges and immunity clause of the constitution. Ruling in the case of Martinez et al. v. Regents of the University of California, brought by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) on behalf of some 80,000 nonresident American students who were denied in-state tuition benefits, the Appeals Court agreed that California policy violates expressed provisions of both the Immigration Act and the Welfare Reform Act of 1996.

The 1996 Immigration Act states that “an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State…for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit…â€

OH WHAT A GREAT DAY THIS IS. FIRST ICE SUCCESSFULLY CHALLENGES THE SANCTUARY CITY POLICY IN SAN FRANCISCO...THEN A COURT FROM CALIFORNIA RULES IN FAVOR OF AMERICAN CITIZEN STUDENTS. THERE IS HOPE AFTER ALL. OMG. I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT.

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-3544--0-0.html

Here is a PDF file of the courts decision (84 pages)

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/do ... 054124.PDF

California tuition break for illegal immigrants can be challenged

Appellate court rules that a lawsuit over the granting of in-state college fees can go forward.

By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 17, 2008

A state appellate court has ruled that a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a California law granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants can move forward.

A group of out-of-state students and parents filed a lawsuit in 2005 in Yolo County Superior Court against California's public university and community college systems, alleging that they were being charged higher tuition and fees than undocumented immigrants.

A lower court dismissed the suit, but the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento ruled Monday the case could continue.

The out-of-state students argue that federal law requires states that provide in-state rates to undocumented immigrant students to offer the same benefit to out-of-state students.

Ralph Kasarda, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, said California's policy encourages illegal immigration. Anti-illegal immigration groups say the outcome of the case could affect California as well as other states that offer breaks to undocumented students.

"We are pleased with the ruling," said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors stricter controls on illegal immigration. "Not only are valuable seats being given to illegal aliens, everybody else is being required to subsidize it."

The defendants maintain that California's law does not violate the federal statute. They say that more U.S. citizens benefit from the law, known as AB540, than do undocumented immigrants.

To obtain in-state tuition in California, students must have attended three years of high school in California, graduated here and gained admission to one of the state's colleges or universities.

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights legal director Robert Rubin said these students are the state's "best and brightest."

"We should be doing everything we can to encourage their higher education so they can be fully contributing members of our society," Rubin said.

Cynthia Valenzuela, director of litigation for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said she was disappointed by the ruling. Valenzuela said the organization had received numerous calls from worried students, but she pointed out that California's law remains in effect.

anna.gorman@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 7018.story

Court: Granting Illegal Immigrants In-State Tuition Violates Federal Law

By Emily Grospe
Contributing Writer
Tuesday, September 16, 2008 | 10:10 pm

A state appellate court ruled on Monday that a state law granting subsidized in-state tuition rates to undocumented California college students conflicts with federal law.

California's AB 540 law had allowed undocumented students to pay in-state tuition if they had attended a state high school for three years and if they attended one of the state's public secondary education systems, among other criteria.

The ruling overturned the dismissal of a 2006 lawsuit, which claimed that the state law violates a federal law. According to federal law, undocumented immigrants are ineligible for secondary education benefits unless a U.S. citizen is also eligible for the same benefit, regardless of the citizen's residency.

"It means that California is going to have to stop providing state tuition rates to illegal immigrants," said Kris Kobach, a University of Missouri at Kansas City law professor and attorney for the plaintiffs. "It means U.S. citizens paying out-of-state rates may finally be given a remedy in court for the discrimination they've suffered."

Currently, out-of-state students pay about $17,000 more a year than undocumented and resident students in the UC system, he said.

The exact number of undocumented students on campus is unknown as the admissions application does not require proof of citizenship, according to campus spokesperson Marie Felde. She said estimates are that there are dozens of undocumented high school graduates at UC Berkeley.

"The chancellor has said that he does not believe we should penalize these young people because their parents brought them here illegally," Felde said.

The case will now be returned to Yolo County Superior Court, where it was first dismissed in 2006, to "determine the form of remedy," such as calculating damages, Kobach said.

UC counsel Christopher Patti said the ruling could prohibit the university from exempting undocumented students from non-resident tuition.

"We're disappointed in the court's decision," he said. "The regents supported AB 540 and our belief was that the legislature had crafted a statute that did not conflict with federal law."

Patti is evaluating the overturned decision and is considering an appeal to the California Supreme Court.

But Kobach said the ruling is good news for California taxpayers.

"California taxpayers are spending over $100 million dollars a year subsidizing the higher education of illegal aliens who cannot legally work in California anyway," he said. "This subsidy is not only illegal, it's senseless and this decision means that it will likely come to an end very soon."

But undocumented students are barely getting by under current laws, said Ronald Cruz, a Boalt student and organizer for the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary.

"I think it's untenable to force undocumented students to have their dreams deferred because of something they cannot change like where they were born," Cruz said. "We see this as a new Jim Crow, imposing a badge of inferiority on students for something they have no control over."

Cruz is working with others in support of the California Dream Act, which would allow undocumented students to receive campus-based financial aid. The act was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year.

An undocumented UC Berkeley sophomore originally from Mexico, who was granted anonymity because of her legal status, said the talents of undocumented students benefit the country, but current policies are putting their dreams out of reach.

"I know a lot of AB 540 students who are trying to a receive a higher education and because of racist policies, we don't receive the same opportunities," the sophomore said.

The student said she has been in the U.S. for nine years and is working with Cruz and the coalition to build a civil rights movement to help make the California Dream Act a law.

"If I were documented, I would still defend this," she said. "It just doesn't make sense to deprive anybody from equal education."
http://www.dailycal.org/article/102659/ ... te_tuition

Can someone name the eight other states please?

This is great news for California. I have friends and family who live in the northern part and they have kids that high school and college age. Many colleges in California are overcrowded as it maybe this will help improve the colleges.