The plaintiff, 42 students who graduated from UC and CSU challenged the AB540.
California Assembly Bill 540, which was passed 2001, grants in-state tuition for any students regardless of their citizenship as long as they have attended high school for three years in California.
The 42 college graduates, all of whom are U.S citizens who paid out-of-state tuition filed a formal request Feb. 14 to take their case Martinez et al. v. UC Board of Regents et al. before the Supreme Court.
The students claimed AB 540 violated the federal Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which requires states to provide in-state tuition benefits to all U.S. citizens if such benefits are given to illegal immigrants. However, the California Supreme Court upheld AB 540 in November, overturning a previous decision.
It has been six years of petition and appeals and finally, the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal that challenged AB540.
Michael Brady, a lawyer who represented the plaintiffs, said the ruling was not fair to U.S. citizens.
It is understandable for citizens to complaining about the fact that they pay more that the students who are not even citizens. However AB540 has benefitted three times more U.S citizens than undocumented students. There are little more than 200 students at UC who benefits from this bill and only around 600 people are potentially illegal.
“We also are gratified that students who have attended and graduated from high school in California and who have achieved the academic accomplishments to qualify for UC will continue to have access to affordable higher education opportunities, irrespective of their immigration status,” said Charles Robinson, the UC’s general counsel and vice president for legal affairs, in a statement.
It’s a huge step toward giving full rights to all people who are contributing to our country, regardless of immigration status.
No comments:
Post a Comment