By Aldgra Fredly
Contributing Writer
Kentucky agreed to end a policy that had allowed illegal immigrants to access in-state college tuition rates, following a lawsuit by the Department of Justice, according to state Attorney General Russell Coleman.
“We’re ending in-state tuition for illegal immigrants at Kentucky public universities,” Coleman stated on X on Monday.
The DOJ filed the lawsuit on June 17, challenging Kentucky’s policy that requires public colleges to offer in-state tuition rates to students without legal immigration status but who are deemed to be Kentucky residents.
In its lawsuit, the DOJ argued that Kentucky’s policy is unconstitutional because it conflicts with federal law, which prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving in-state college tuition rates that are not accessible to U.S. citizens from other states.
The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education and the DOJ filed a joint motion on Aug. 22 for a consent judgment agreeing to scrap the policy. The court has not yet issued a ruling on it.
Coleman told Fox News in an interview published Sunday that the judge will need to approve the consent agreement before the in-state tuition policy can formally be repealed.
“I do applaud the fact that [KCPE] did the right thing and followed the law, but it took the Justice Department and all of its legal leverage and the chief law enforcement officer of the state opining on the legality before they did [the] right thing,” he said.
“That’s disappointing.”
Kentucky Gov. Andrew Beshear was named as one of the defendants in the DOJ lawsuit, but his office stated that the governor holds no authority over the education council’s regulations.
In response to the council’s motion for consent judgment, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed a motion on Aug. 22 to intervene on behalf of Kentucky students.
MALDEF said that ending the state’s policy extending in-state tuition to illegal immigrants could force “many to withdraw from their degree programs or abandon their plans entirely.”
“The DOJ’s pattern of collusive lawsuits challenging affordable tuition for immigrant students is a nativist abuse of federal authority,” MALDEF President Thomas Saenz said in a statement on Aug. 25.
“These laws have stood for years without challenge by administrations of both parties.”
In June, Texas agreed to end its policy granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants after a judge ruled in favor of the federal government in a lawsuit brought by the DOJ.
Judge Reed O’Connor declared the practice unconstitutional and permanently barred Texas from enforcing the provision, which had been part of its education law since 2001.
The Associated Press and Bill Pan contributed to this report.
