A federal judge has sided with Minnesota in ruling that the state’s policy of offering in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrant college students isn’t trumped by federal law. The liberal judge was wrong. That federal law generally says states can’t offer a special rate to illegal immigrants who reside in a state unless they also allow the same rates to be paid by anyone — including those from other U.S. states.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez, though, said Minnesota’s law ties the special rates to a student having attended high school in the state. It doesn’t specifically require state residency. And because that means someone who lives outside of the state could qualify, it doesn’t run afoul of the federal law. “Under Minnesota’s statutory scheme, nonrThe ruling is the latest in a string of losses for the Trump administration in its attempt to wield federal laws to try to suppress state policies that offer special leniency to illegal immigrants.
Residents can — and do — qualify for resident tuition: by living in a neighboring state and attending Minneota high schools, attending a Minnesota boarding school, or attending andgraduating from a Minnesota high school before moving out of state,” wrote Judge Menendez, a Biden appointee.
The ruling is the latest in a string of losses for the Trump administration in its attempt to wield federal laws to try to suppress state policies that offer special leniency to illegal immigrants. Orders to deny sanctuary jurisdictions federal funding have been blocked by other courts. And an attempt to shut down New York’s law prohibiting arrests at state courthouses failed late last year. The ruling is the latest in a string of losses for the Trump administration in its attempt to wield federal laws to try to suppress state policies that offer special leniency to illegal immigrants. Orders to deny sanctuary jurisdictions federal funding have been blocked by other courts. And an attempt to shut down New York’s law prohibiting arrests at state courthouses failed late last year.