Victory: Calif. court shoots down illegal alien tuition breaks
Huge news on the illegal immigration front — and it’s good news, for once — out of California.
A court has ruled that the DREAM Act in the Golden State (providing in-state college tuition breaks to illegal aliens while denying those benefits to law-abiding native Americans, naturalized Americans, and legal out-of-state residents) is in conflict with federal immigration law:
A state appellate court has put a financial cloud over the future of tens of thousands of undocumented California college students, saying a state law that grants them the same heavily subsidized tuition rate that is given to resident students is in conflict with federal law.
In a ruling reached Monday, the state Court of Appeal reversed a lower court’s decision that there were no substantial legal issues and sent the case back to the Yolo County Superior Court for trial.
“It has a huge impact,” said Kris Kobach, an attorney for the plaintiffs and a law professor at the University Missouri at Kansas City. “This is going to bring a halt to the law that has been giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrants.”
He said it is a big win for California taxpayers who have been subsidizing education for undocumented immigrants.
The suit was filed in 2005 by out-of-state students attending California colleges. They challenged the state’s practice of allowing illegal immigrants to pay significantly lower tuition than they pay at the University of California, the California State University and the California Community Colleges.
UC charges out-of-state students nearly $18,000 a year more than it charges resident and undocumented students who graduated from California high schools. At CSU, out-of-state students pay about $8,000 more. And at the state’s 110 community colleges, they pay an average of about $160 a unit instead of $20 per unit – or $1,920 for a full load instead of $240.
The suit was dismissed by the Yolo County Superior Court in 2006, setting up the appeal.
On Monday, three justices of the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento said that a 2001 state law, AB540, conflicts with federal law. The state law provides the benefit of in-state tuition to undocumented students while the federal law says an illegal immigrant cannot receive that benefit unless the same benefit is extended to all U.S. citizens without regard to California residency.
The three California college systems specifically limit the benefits to students who attended a California high school for at least three years and graduated from a state high school.
In the ruling, the appellate justices said: “The state statute allows the benefit to U.S. citizens from other states only if they attend a California high school for three years. Thus, the state statute does not afford the same benefit to U.S. citizens ‘without regard to’ California residence,” as required by the federal law.
Plain as day. No way around it.
Noam Askew and Eugene Volokh have further analysis.
Law-abiding students in every state with a DREAM Act should follow suit…literally.
See what others have said
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- Breaking: California Court Halts Tuition Breaks To Illegal Aliens | Right Voices
- Michelle Malkin » It’s baaaack: The DREAM Act returns
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Nice way to end the day.
Ahhhhhhhhhh victory… however fleeting… victory all the same… Good night, all. Be well
Now if only we could get CA to stop using “undocumented” when they really mean illegal!
Baby steps, while small, are nevertheless steps in the right direction.
Thank goodness! I just hope it will hold up. It’s time to quit pandering to ILLEGALS.
Sorry la raza america will stand up to your invasion. I will not submit. Roger that.
Finally some good news.
Kris Kobach is a hero. We are so lucky to have him fighting for us.
Finally, some folks I don’t have to support unwillingly…
Well my state actually did something right for a change.
BRILLIANT!! But it’s not over, I’m sure. There will be a Federal Discrimination suit now, which the 9th Circus will uphold.
Appointments to the Federal Bench matter. We can’t trust Justice fense-sitter Kennedy to do the right thing on this when the case inevitably reaches SCOTUS.
If only this ruling would “trickle down” to other forms of “illegal pandering” here in the formerly Golden State. Our taxes go to pay for the public school education of and medical care for the “illegals,” not to mention the incarceration of illegals who are convicted of crimes. Something’s got to give, and it isn’t going to be my wallet!
Finally the courts got one right…I poised over my phone ready to make the calls demanding to get my money back for my education: if illegals get a free ride, then why not everyone?
I live in this socialist quagmire called California, too. It’s about time the judiciary in this state got some stones.
Of course, the socialists in the state legislature will just ignore the ruling and pass another law granting illegal aliens the exact same benefits and make someone else go through the same long legal trek to get it corrected.
America has more than one mutated value that should not be validated.
Conquest by demographic is one.
One down twenty million or so to go.
I’m sure the CA state Governor’s Office is salivating now over what they’ll do with the money this will “save” state taxpayers.
This is a win, but a win in principle only.
OK, how about This one, The Citizenship Promotion Act, S. 795’s,:
The Secretary of Homeland Security serves at the pleasure of the President; if elected that would be Obama.
I saw today that the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,and Transgender community organized a protest today in SF to demand that SF keep its sanctuary city policy unchanged.
I am not seeing much coverage here because the SF Chronicle is actually one of the targets of the protesters because the Chron is too harsh on the Illegal Immigrant community. Thats rich.
Not shocked in the least.
I will, however, be surprised if the MSM picks up on this.
Thank you, Michelle, for this piece of good news.
No way should anyone’s tax dollars support some non-citizen’s college tuition. This is such an affront to all those hard-working parents out there paying for their kids’ college tuition. If out-of-state students can’t get special breaks, then these illegals shouldn’t either.
Now if we could do something about that anchor baby thing….
On September 17th, 2008 at 12:31 am, California Red said:
I always wonder if these self-described sex-act-based-identity activist folks are sincere. Whenever I try to think like them (in order to understand them, of course) I keep coming to the same conclusion: Why would I waste time protesting when there is so much more “fun” to be had …know what I mean? (wink wink, nudge nudge)
Finally.
On September 17th, 2008 at 1:29 am, AlohaGuy said:
Finally, what?
A good thing. California is financially busted.
How on earth can a federal law expressly countenance the enrolment of illegal immigrants in colleges?! That is messed up!
I’m very wary of the wording of this sentence:
What’s with the “unless” part? No “unless.” It should end before that with a period, and the rest after the period should be stricken. Californians better make sure that the federal law doesn’t get altered, or the state will reenact the policy. Teams of people are likely digging for loopholes even now.
Thanks for the update.
Nice to hear, but I’ll wait until the appeal process is done, and it’s thrown out by the 9th Circus. The illegals have pretty much taken over California, so the liberals will be bowing to their demands. Why someone would go to a job and work hard just so some illegal gets the money, instead of the worker’s family getting the money, shows the apathy there…or ignorance.
“Plain as day. No way around it” ?
Slap yourself on the head. When has the language of the law ever stopped a Liberal? Clearly only what their feelings were counts here….they only want to help the poor illegal democratic voters. What’s wrong with helping people? You’re probably all for hurting people. You’d rather we send them to Gitmo? How can they get a free education if you make them pay for it?
Now where will the illegals go to obtain their Bachelor’s degrees in dish washing, lawn care and chop shop management? Mexico!?!
It’s a step in the right direction. We need more rulings along the same lines to get them out of all schools and emergency rooms.
In the words of Governor Rick Perry, “adios, mofo.”
Yay for the folks in California. Your taxes won’t be going to help lawbreakers go to college.
If California truly wants to help illegals obtain education, the state could sponsor a four-year study abroad program…in Mexico.
Cost of a one-way ticket from LAX to Mexico City: $75
Relief for the American taxpayer: Priceless!
Can we deport them now?
HOLY COW MM, and this is out of CALIFORNIA… There may be a chance for US out there yet… Now an EMPLOYER SANCTIONS BILL, please…
They had an illegal college student interviwed on the local news here in Southern California this morning. She said she had been here for seven years and was VERY upset that she is going to have to pay more then she had thought to continue going to SDSU.
RIGHT THERE ON THE NEWS! An “undocumented student”. There are not enough openings for CITIZENS and there is an illegal bitching on television… What a mess…
Who wants to bet, California Ignores the COurt ruling and gives Illegal ALiens all the Perks they withhold from Citizens anyhow?
great news, but i bet some black robed messiah stays the finding until it can be taken up by countless other courts, which by that time will all be liberal.
Yep, that’s the Kalifornia that I know and loathe. One step closer to walking away from my overpriced house…
Maybe ICE should have a “ride along” with the news crews.
Yay!
I always felt this was a disgrace; legal immigrants and out-of-state students get ripped off while the people who snuck in get the bennies.
Busted? More like in ruins! At least this decision is a step in the right direction. Mean while Arnold is pissing in the ocean believing it will turn it yellow.
I heard rumors that La Raza is linked.
Just when I thought we were cracking down on Illegals. Can Chief Bratton Kiss Mayor Vi agra grossa’s arse any better?
One step closer to the American citizen actually having more rights than an illegal.
Right on! No justice , no peace!
Racist university financial policies discriminating against Americans of all ethnic backgrounds in favor of foreign criminals should be a crime, should cost them their jobs, and is quite literally, “UNAMERICAN.”
Screw the university policies – they charge more money for a useless BA or BS than it costs to get a heart transplant! Who cares about oil prices when a college education costs $160,000 or more. That’s enough $$$ to buy 40,000 gallons of gas and drive 1.2 million miles. The average American drives 12,000 miles a year so it would take 100 years at $4 a gallon to equal the cost of college. BIG COLLEGE is killing America. BIG OIL is what makes America great. College professors make salaries that are so high one would think that they are responsible for the very lives of hundreds of people and must make snap life and death decisions on a daily basis like physicians. That’s a laugh! Their biggest decision is what size American flag to burn or how best to fake racial discrimination – self made noose around their office door or writing racial epithets on their cars. If you have to vomit, please do so on your professor!
The next President will fix all of this with an amnesty for the illegal aliens.
Whichever one wins.
Well here is a little bit of good news.
Appeals court upholds Arizona immigration law