MUSKOGEE, Okla. — A Latino civil rights organization filed a motion last week to intervene in a lawsuit that rescinded regular tuition for students without lawful immigration status in Oklahoma.
MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) and Marvin Lizama, of the Tulsa-based Lizama Law PLLC, filed the request on behalf of Oklahoma Students for Affordable Tuition (OSAT), an unincorporated association of college students without lawful immigration status who rely on paying regular tuition rates to afford their education. OSAT students lost eligibility for regular tuition as a result of a federal lawsuit and the state’s decision to capitulate to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) challenge. Under Oklahoma law, students without lawful immigration status who graduated from an Oklahoma high school and lived in the state for at least two years before graduation previously qualified for regular tuition rather than much higher out-of-state tuition rates. The policy had been in place for more than two decades.
“No administration, of either party, has previously challenged these long-extant laws, which recognize that states benefit from making higher education available to all students who grew up in their communities,” said Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF president and general counsel. “The current assault on such equity has no basis in the law, and the assault is even more troubling when political collusion leads to requests to end these longstanding state laws on the very day the case is filed by the federal government.”
At issue is a lawsuit filed on August 5, by the DOJ against Oklahoma, alleging that the state’s tuition laws violate federal law by extending regular rates to certain immigrants while not offering the same treatment to out-of-state U.S. citizens. That same day, rather than defend the laws, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond joined the federal government in a joint motion asking the court to invalidate the laws. On August 29, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma granted the joint motion, striking down the tuition laws as applied to undocumented students.
Following the court’s decision, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education voted to revoke their tuition policy. The change is expected to affect about 400 students currently enrolled in Oklahoma’s public colleges and universities.
“This is another lawsuit that is part of a disturbing pattern where the federal government seeks to punish states for making higher education accessible to undocumented students,” said MALDEF Attorney Fernando Nuñez. “Oklahoma’s decision to capitulate not only abandons our clients but also undermines the state’s investment in their talent and future contributions to their communities.”
Attorneys argue that the court’s decision has left OSAT’s members facing tuition hikes that more than double their educational costs, with devastating consequences. Some are being forced to seek high-interest loans just to finish the semester, while others may have to withdraw from college entirely after investing years of study and significant financial resources.
The motion to intervene was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
MALDEF has also sought to intervene in related cases, including a lawsuit in Texas on behalf of a group of students facing higher tuition rates after the repeal of the Texas Dream Act, and a federal lawsuit in Kentucky, where the DOJ is seeking to eliminate the regular tuition rates paid by most students for those without lawful immigration status living in the state. Also last week, MALDEF filed its first brief in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on the Texas case. Find the brief HERE. MALDEF continues to oppose the federal government’s efforts to invalidate longstanding tuition equity for undocumented students across the country.
Read the motion to intervene in the Oklahoma case HERE.