Fed Judge Strikes Down Nebraska Law Allowing Some Undocumented Students In-State Tuition

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that a Nebraska law allowing some undocumented students to access in-state tuition rates at the state’s colleges and universities is preempted by federal law and barred its enforcement.

The law had been in effect since 2006.

U.S. District Court Judge Brian Buescher wrote in a 54-page opinion that “the Nebraska statutes establishing residence requirements for illegal aliens to obtain in-state tuition, while leaving United States citizens from other states to pay full out-of-state tuition, blatantly violate” federal law.

Under the now struck-down law, non-citizens were eligible for in-state tuition if they graduated from a Nebraska high school and resided in the state for at least three years, among other requirements.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued the State of Nebraska in April seeking to declare the law invalid. It also challenged other statutes that allowed for scholarship programs for undocumented students.

Both the DOJ and the state argued that Nebraska’s law was expressly preempted by a federal law that says, in part: “An alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit.”

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