California Supreme Court to Hear In-State Tuition Challenge

California Supreme Court to Hear In-State Tuition Challenge

Last fall, a California Appeals Court issued a resounding ruling declaring the state’s policy of granting in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens attending state-run colleges and universities to be unconstitutional. In early January, the California Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and resolve the matter.

The challenge to the California policy was initiated in 2005 by FAIR and the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) on behalf of 80,000 U.S. citizen students who were denied the same tuition benefits the state afforded to illegal aliens. The suit, Martinez v. Regents of the University of California, contends that the California law explicitly violates a 1996 federal law which requires states that make in-state benefits available to illegal aliens to make the same benefit available to all U.S. citizens, whether residents of that state or any other state.

The Appeals Court ruling is the first to address the merits of policies that grant in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens. The 84-page ruling declared emphatically that the California policy violates both the equal protection clause and privileges and immunity clause of the U.S. Constitution. Though the ruling in a state court is enforceable only in California, it sets an important legal precedent that will inevitably open the door to challenges of other state policies that grant in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens.
IRLI will continue to play a crucial role in the legal effort to clear the final hurdle of the California Supreme Court and ensure that this important judicial victory for the interests of American citizens is upheld.