In-State Tuition for Illegals Spurs Civil Action in N.Y.

New York has joined Texas as the second state since early August to become the target of discrimination complaints for laws allowing illegal aliens who live in those states to go to college cheaper than out-of-state students who are U.S. citizens.

In both cases, the Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) filed the formal complaints with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. That agency is responsible for investigating complaints of violations of rights arising from federal immigration laws.

WLF, a public-interest law and policy center, says the laws in effect in New York, Texas and seven other states — California, Kansas, Illinois, Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Washington — offer lower in-state tuition rates for illegals who live in those states but deny them to out-of-state students with full citizenship.

The foundation claims the tuition policies violate a 1996 federal statute that says any state that offers reduced in-state tuition rates at public colleges to illegals who live in the state must provide the same lower rates to all U.S. citizens.

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