After the judicial disarmament in Oklahoma. End of non-citizen in-state tuition
The U.S. Department of Justice sued Oklahoma on Tuesday, which allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition fees. Oklahoma is now the fourth state to file a lawsuit for such a policy.
Gentner Drummond, the state’s Republican Attorney General, quickly supported the federal government and filed a joint motion to support the revocation of the law. He said in a statement that providing lower in-state tuition to non-citizens with “unused Americans” is “discriminatory and illegal”.
“Today, Oklahoma taxpayers have been exploited for a long time, and they have subsidized colleges and universities over the years because they provide illegal benefits for illegal immigrants with in-state tuition fees,” Drummond said.
Now, the state and the Justice Department await a U.S. District Court ruling for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
Oklahoma’s rapid support for legal challenges is reminiscent of what happened in Texas, when the DOJ sued the state in June: Within hours of the lawsuit, the Texas and the Justice Department were in charge, and the judge ruled that a permanent injunction, ultimately providing in-state tuition for non-citizens. The Justice Department subsequently filed similar lawsuits against Kentucky and Minnesota, although these legal battles are still underway.
The lawsuits follow an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in April calling for crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities and state laws, taking illegal “for foreigners” compared to any group of American citizens, taking in-state tuition benefits as an example.
