Treating Illegals Better than Americans

California gives the preferential “in-state” tuition rate to illegal aliens who have been in the state for a limited period of time. This violates the federal law which states: “an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible ... for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen ... of the United States is eligible for such a benefit (in no less an amount, duration, and scope) without regard to whether the citizen or national is such a resident.”

Several students of California universities who were charged the higher nonresident tuition under California law sued, alleging discrimination against them compared to illegal aliens.

But surprisingly, the California Court of Appeals unanimously reversed the trial court and held in favor of the out-of-state student-plaintiffs and allowed them to reinstate their lawsuit. The appellate court also held that the plaintiff-students do have a constitutional claim for reverse discrimination for being charged more than illegal aliens were charged.

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