The Daily Californian Online
State Supreme Court Takes Case On Illegal Immigrant Tuition Law
By Valerie Woolard
Contributing Writer
Friday, January 23, 2009
Category: News > University > Higher Education


The California Supreme Court has accepted a case that could drastically impact the amount undocumented immigrant students pay to attend state colleges.

The case challenges a law known as AB 540, which allows students who have attended a California high school for at least three years and graduated-amongst other criteria-to qualify for in-state tuition.

A state appellate court ruled the law to be in violation of federal law last September. The state Supreme Court agreed to hear the case late last month.

The case will likely be argued in the fall of this year, said Michael Brady, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

Currently, out-of-state students pay about $18,000 more a year than in-state students.

Ethan Schulman, an attorney for the UC Regents in the case, said that of the 1,500 UC students who qualified for in-state tuition under AB 540 in 2005-06, there were 390 who were undocumented immigrants.

Brady contests that AB 540 violates a 1998 federal law prohibiting illegal immigrants from receiving in-state tuition benefits on the basis of residence without extending the same benefits to U.S. citizens.

"If any illegal alien is given this benefit, then all American citizens should get this benefit," he said. "The students have a claim getting back tuition that they saw was wrongfully taken."

The plaintiffs in the case are 42 out-of-state students and their parents, who claim the exemption unfairly discriminates against them.

Proponents said that many undocumented immigrants benefitting from the law would be unable to afford college otherwise.

"In general, undocumented immigrants are ineligible for federal aid," Schulman said. "In these poor families, this is really their only chance."

Schulman also noted that the law benefits other students besides undocumented immigrants, including students who attend boarding school in California and students who attend California high schools and later move out of state.

CalSERVE Senator Oscar Mairena said the case concerned him, and that overturning the law would create insurmountable problems for undocumented students hoping to attend college.

"I think that (overturning it) would be horrible for those students who already have so many obstacles in coming into higher education," Mairena said.

Onson Luong, an out-of-state UC Davis graduate and one of the plaintiffs in the case, said that while he understood the challenges facing undocumented students, he still felt that he is unfairly treated under the law.

"I worked two jobs in college, ate Top Ramen way more than I should have," Luong said. "It's really hard for me to be politically correct about this, but it's just not fair."



Tags: Immigrants, tuition


Article Link: http://www.dailycal.org/article/103994