Frankfort, Ky. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration has called on federal judges to break Kentucky’s regulations.
The U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit states that the regulations violate federal immigration laws by undocumented students qualify for lower tuition fees at public universities and universities in Kentucky, while American citizens in other states pay higher tuition fees to attend the same school.
“Federal law prohibits aliens in the United States who do not legally exist in state tuition benefits that are denied by US citizens outside of the state. There are no exceptions,” the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Kentucky follows a similar lawsuit in another red state by the Trump administration, as part of its efforts. Pollution on immigration.
Federal judge Blocked Texas law This gave college students no legal residential access to reduce tuition fees in the state. The order only applied to Texas, but was seen as an opening for conservatives to challenge similar laws in two dozen states. Such laws were intended to support young people who had no “dreamers” or legal status if they met certain residency standards.
“The Department of Justice has just won this exact issue in Texas and looks forward to fighting in Kentucky to protect the rights of American citizens,” Attorney General Pam Bondy said in a statement.
The lawsuits in both countries comply with a recent executive order signed by Trump, designed to suspend state or local laws or regulations that the administration feels discriminates against legal residents.
The Texas lawsuit lists Texas as the defendant, but did not name the state’s Republican governor as the defendant. The Kentucky lawsuit nominates Democrat government Andy Besher as one of the defendants.
The Kentucky regulations in question appear to have been issued by the state’s Council of Higher Education before 2010, Besher’s office said Wednesday in a statement attempting to separate the governor from the legal struggle.
Beshear was first elected governor in 2019 and currently holds his second and final term due to time limits, but is widely seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2028.
Beshear spokeswoman Crystal Staley said the governor is not authorized to change the regulations of the Education Council or CPE and should not be a party to the lawsuit.
“Under Kentucky law, CPE is independent and has the sole authority to determine student residency requirements for in-state tuition fees and controls its own regulations,” Staley said in a statement.
Past Besha I criticized it Trump’s anti-immigrant language is dangerous and inhuman, and calls for a balanced approach to immigration. It recognizes the role that legal immigrants play in protecting national boundaries but meeting business employment needs. Beshear says he believes that “dreamers” should be able to fully acquire American citizens.
A spokesperson for CPE, another Kentucky accused, said Wednesday that its legal counsel is considering litigation and regulation but did not make any additional comment.
Kentucky Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman said there were “serious concerns” that CPE policies violated federal law, and that his office supports the Trump administration’s efforts.
A small number of Republican lawmakers in Kentucky tried to raise the issue during this legislative meeting, but their bill did not advance in the GOP-Supermajority legislature. The measure would have illegally blocked state immigrants from illegally claiming their Kentucky residence with the aim of paying state tuition fees at a state university or university.
According to a Justice Department lawsuit, the regulations say they are in a “direct dispute” with federal law by allowing undocumented students to qualify for reduced tuition fees within the state based on their residence within Bluegrass state, and deny their interests to U.S. citizens who do not meet Kentucky’s residence requirements.
Students in other states generally pay higher tuition than students in the state to attend Kentucky public universities, the lawsuit says. The exception said that agreements on interaction with another state could reduce tuition fees for eligible students in other states.
The rules recognize undocumented immigrants who graduated from Kentucky high schools as Kentucky residents in a dispute with federal law, the lawsuit says.
“It is in direct conflict with the federal immigration law prohibiting low tuition education benefits based on residences to foreigners who do not exist in the United States that are not available to all Americans regardless of their place of residence,” the lawsuit says.
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