California's Illegal Nanny-State

Campus Report ^ | September 25, 2008 | Bethany Stotts

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California’s Illegal Nanny-State

by: Bethany Stotts, September 25, 2008

The debate over illegal immigration—a culture war fought on the dual fronts of terminology and selective media coverage—reached another milestone this September, when the California state appeals court decided that a class-action lawsuit represented by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) was improperly dismissed by the Yolo County superior court. The out-of-state plaintiffs filed suit in 2006 after California passed a law providing in-state tuition for exemption holders, including foreign nationals and illegal immigrants.

The complaint (pdf), issued by IRLI, argues that the California statute violates federal law and the U.S. Constitution by

a.) ignoring a Congressional statute that makes it “a compelling government interest to remove the incentive for illegal immigration provided by the availability of public benefits;” and b.) because it exempts “illegal aliens residing in California from paying nonresident tuition without conferring the same benefit on U.S. citizens/students from other states.” The “revival” of the case, as some are calling it, could have momentous effects on the immigration debate, according to Mike Hethmon of IRLI, as the Contra Costa Times (CCT) reports. “This goes well beyond post-secondary education benefits,” Hethmon told CCT reporter Matt Krupnick. “This is potentially a very sweeping decision in all areas.” Universities affected by the lawsuit include the University of California, California State University, and each of California’s 109 community colleges. The contended statute, which has been in effect since 2001, grants preferential college tuition to any student provided that they have attended a California high school for the previous three years.

“To be eligible for the exemption, undocumented immigrants must promise to seek citizenship as soon as they are able,” writes Krupnick....

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