DOJ sues Oklahoma over in-state tuition access for undocumented immigrants

OKLAHOMA CITY — The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday sued Oklahoma over a state law giving undocumented immigrants access to in-state tuition and financial aid at colleges and universities.

President Donald Trump’s administration argued that Oklahoma state law violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and asked the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma to find the statute invalid.

Oklahoma Attorney Gentner Drummond, a Republican, whose office represents the state and public officials in litigation, filed a motion Tuesday in support of the lawsuit.

Attorneys for the Department of Justice argued that the law extends eligibility for in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants while not extending that treatment to U.S. citizens in other states.

“This unequal treatment of Americans is squarely prohibited and preempted by federal law, which expressly provides that ‘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 . . . without regard to whether the citizen or national is such a resident,’” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit references executive orders from the Republican president, this year that “emphasize that federal and state governments must not grant greater benefits to individuals who are unlawfully present in the United States than to American citizens.”

Oklahoma is one of 23 states and Washington D.C. that provides in-state tuition and financial aid benefits to undocumented students, according to an analysis by the Higher Education Portal, which is a platform for data, resources and policy analysis regarding immigrant student populations.

Oklahoma law allows requires in-state tuition be offered to anyone who graduates high school in the state and resides in Oklahoma for at least two years prior to graduation.

The lawsuit also argues that under the law, undocumented immigrants are eligible. Students who meet the residency requirements and provide one of Oklahoma’s colleges and universities with their application or a petition to legalize their immigration status can be eligible for  state scholarships or financial aid, according to the lawsuit.

Angela Caddell, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, said in a statement Tuesday that the Regents are in the process of determining how many students will be impacted.

“The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education will follow federal law,” she said. “State system institutions will determine their next steps in concert with their respective campus governing boards.”

Drummond, in his motion, sided with the Trump administration and requested that the court prevent the state statute from being enforced.

“Today marks the end of a longstanding exploitation of Oklahoma taxpayers, who for many years have subsidized colleges and universities as they provide unlawful benefits to illegal immigrants in the form of in-state tuition,” Drummond said in a statement. “Rewarding foreign nationals who are in our country illegally with lower tuition costs that are not made available to out-of-state American citizens is not only wrong — it is discriminatory and unlawful.”

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