November 16, 2010

In 2001, the California Legislature passed a measure that any student, regardless of immigration status, that attended a California high school for at least three years and graduated would be able to qualify for in-state tuition at California's public universities. In-state tuition saves each state college student about $11,000 a year and about $23,000 a year for each University of California student. These undocumented immigrant students would still be barred from receiving financial federal aid. The law also requires that the undocumented immigrants that apply for the in-state tuition have to swear that they will attempt to become a U.S. citizen.

A group of out-of-state students (who were U.S. citizens) then filed a lawsuit claiming that the law violated federal laws that bars undocumented immigrants from receiving post-secondary benefits not available to U.S. citizens based on state residency. In 2008, a state appellate court ruled that the law was unconstitutional. 

The case then went to the California State Supreme Court. The court has upheld the state law and ruled unanimously that it was not unconstitutional (and six of the seven judges were appointed by Republicans governors). California is now one of ten states that allows undocumented immigrants to receive in-state tuition; but this ruling is the first of its kind in the nation. The justices said the California provision was constitutional because U.S. residents also have access to reduced tuition rates (yeah, if you want in-state tuition, move your ass to California, whiners) and that the California law is not based on residency. Under the law, the students are not receiving reduced college tuition based on residency; instead, the California law makes an exemption for students that attend state schools for three years. That means any non-resident who meets the law's requirements can get the reduced rate. Some of those students are undocumented immigrants, but it also includes U.S. citizens who attend high school in California but their family does not live in California (e.g., students that attended a California high school for at least three years, but then their family moved away; students that attended a boarding school in California). The case is expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

I am very pleased with the California State Supreme Court's decision. Undocumented immigrants deserve an education too. They're already not entitled to government aid for education, so it's nice that this is one less financial roadblock to getting a college education (although even with in-state tuition, I bet some people will still have a hard time affording university). Groups opposed to this law say that lower tuition for undocumented immigrants will cost the state money. When in actuality, I bet the state is probably going to make more money than they would have in the first place. By giving the in-state tuition rate, maybe more immigrant students will find that attending university is financially possible. Before you were maybe going to get no tuition out of them, now you might be able to get $4,335-$11,285 annually from each student (depending on what school they attend). In addition, the more degree-holders and highly-skilled people in California translates into more benefits for the state's economy and workforce. 

Many of the immigrant students that will benefit from this law most likely came to the U.S. with their families when they were very young. They probably have lived here for most of their life. These are students that attended at least three years in a California high school, they graduated, and they were accepted to a college. These are obviously very bright people (that have obviously overcame many challenges. Imagine the difficulties of going through life in the U.S. being a child of an undocumented worker), and they should be encouraged, not held back, from attending college. (Full Story)