Will Supreme Court Allow States to Violate Federal Law Barring In-State Tuition for Illegal-Alien College Students?
We may get an answer over the next week from the high court, which will decide whether to hear the case.
A federal district court and a U.S. Court of Appeals have essentially already refused to take action against states that break the federal law.
Administration & Courts Have Refused to Enforce Law
Ten states are breaking federal law by providing the cheaper in-state tuition to illegal aliens attending their colleges.
This is one of the more egregious examples of both the Executive and Judicial branches of government failing in their Constitutional tasks.
The Legislative Branch (Congress) passed the ban on this benefit to illegal aliens in 1996.
But although President Bill Clinton signed the ban into law, his Administration -- and now President George Bush's -- have not fulfilled their responsibility to enforce the law.
And the courts have not done their responsibility to hold the Presidents accountable.
Repeatedly in the realm of immigration, American citizens see the rule of law subverted and corrupted in this way. It gives rise to increasing cynicism about whether we remain a nation of laws.
U.S. Justice Department Bears Chief Blame
The 1996 law actually allows a state to provide the subsidized, lower in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens ....
.... but only if the state also provides the same low rate to U.S. citizens who are residents of other states.
Congress was pretty sure that no state would be willing to give up the huge amounts of money it collects in higher tuition from out-of-state students. But it gave states that option if they truly insisted on subsidizing illegal-alien students.
None of the 10 states giving the benefit to illegal aliens has followed the law and offered the cheap tuition to all American students.
Nonetheless, the Justice Department under Clinton and now Bush has never done its duty under the law and taken one of those 10 states to court.
And, thus, disrespect for the law and an orderly society grows.
The Lawsuit Before the Court
The Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) stepped in to try to force the compliance with the law that the Justice Department ignored.
It sued the state of Kansas for its recent statute offering in-state tuition to illegal aliens. You can read its press release about the case and its plans for the Supreme Court by clicking here:
http://www.wlf.org/upload/042108RS.pdf
WLF filed its brief on behalf of a University of Kansas student who had lived in Kansas earlier in life but went to high school in Kansas City, Missouri. She pays far more tuition than do illegal aliens.
Both federal District Court and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals have thrown out the suit on technical grounds, saying that the student plaintiff has no standing as a victim of the Kansas pro-illegal-alien law.
The Supreme Court will decide -- probably over the next week -- whether U.S. citizens such as this indeed do have standing to sue for adherence to the law when the President of the United States and his Administration refuse to enforce that law.
When it comes to the details and technicalities that the Supreme Court will consider, I don't have skills to offer an educated opinion. But I do agree with WLF Chief Counsel Richard Samp that unless the courts force states to play by the rules set by Congress, the pro-illegal-alien lobbies will be emboldened in their efforts to "encourage yet other states to flout federal law."
Our campaign for Attrition Through Enforcement to steadily drive illegal aliens to leave this country has been gaining steam, with local and state victories throughout the country. A continuation of tuition benefits to illegal aliens in the 10 states -- and, even worse, an expansion into other states -- would be a serious setback to our Attrition efforts.
Click here to send a fax to your Congressmen and urge them to investigate the President's refual to enforce the law.