Thursday, May 7, 2015
Judge Arthur Anderson ruled the Arizona law doesn't bar benefits to immigrants lawfully in the country, and that under federal law, the DACA students are lawfully present."This has to do a lot with the work we have been doing," says Salazar, who is graduating from Pima Community College on May 21 with an associate's degree in business. (PCC gives DREAMers in-state tuition since fall 2013.)
"Federal law, not state law, determines who is lawfully present in the U.S. ... The circumstance under which a person enters the U.S. does not determine that person's lawful presence here," the ruling says.
Maricopa County's 10 community colleges charge $84 per credit for in-state tuition, compared with $325 per credit for out-of-state tuition.
In years past, undocumented students had been able to attend community-college classes for $91 per credit as long as they took six or fewer credits per semester under a program originally intended for snowbirds. In 2012, the district's governing board ended that program and began charging the full out-of-state tuition rate.
Regents President Eileen Klein said Tuesday she expects to schedule a regents meeting soon to discuss the ruling. The regents are not a party in the lawsuit."From a financial point of view, we are going to be giving back to our state, getting higher paying jobs, we are going to be paying more taxes...it makes sense to make education accessible," she says.
"We respect the court's decision around Maricopa Community College students, and we want to now read that court decision and figure out what it means for Arizona universities. ... We are going to move very quickly," Klein said.
She added that the regents will comply with state and federal law.
Tags: dreamers , in state , tuition , daca , maricopa , university of arizona , pima community college , scholarships az