CA Supreme Court Preserves In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students

The California Supreme Court this week ruled that undocumented immigrants may continue to be eligible for in-state-tuition rates at California state colleges and universities.

Overturning a lower court decision, Justice Ming W. Chin, described by the Los Angeles Times
as one of the panel’s more conservative members,  ruled that
California’s tuition plan did not conflict with the federal prohibition
on giving undocumented immigrants educational benefits based on
residency status. The California Supreme Court’s ruling allows
undocumented immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition if they have
attended California high schools for a minimum of three years and
graduated.

Opposing groups argued that the law would be unfair to citizens who
pay higher out-of-state tuition. But as Justice Chin noted, students who
are not California residents but who meet the criteria of attending
three years or more years of high school in California and graduating
from a California high school are also eligible for an exemption that
allows them to pay in-state tuition rates .

The lead lawyer for the plaintiffs, Kris W. Kobach, was the principal
designer of SB 1070, Arizona’s controversial immigration law, which
requires law enforcement officers to question, detain, and arrest anyone
whom they have a “reasonable suspicion” is in the United States without
documentation. 

The court’s ruling is an important step toward giving undocumented
immigrant youths the chance to pursue a quality education. This ruling
is especially important in light of the Senate’s plans to reconsider the
DREAM Act
before the end of the year. The DREAM Act would allow students who
graduated from high school in the United States to contribute to society
through higher education or military service. 

Passing the DREAM Act is among six priorities of The Leadership Conference and its coalition partners for the lame duck Congress.