KANSAS CITY, KS —A Latino civil rights organization filed an appeal Friday of a federal court decision ending access to regular tuition rates for students without lawful immigration status who formerly qualified under Kansas law.
MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) and co-counsel filed the appeal on behalf of Kansas Students for Affordable Tuition (KanSAT), an association of college students without lawful immigration status who relied on Kansas’ tuition policy to afford higher education.
“Absent some recent change in applicable law, duly-enacted state legislation should never be struck down without full and complete consideration of all legal arguments,” said Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF president and general counsel. “That did not happen here; Kansas students who relied on a state law that is over 20 years old in enrolling in Kansas colleges and universities deserve their day in court.”
On Sept. 9, U.S. District Judge Holly L. Teeter of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas denied KanSAT’s motion to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) challenging Kansas’ tuition-equity law. The court also denied Governor Laura Kelly’s motion to intervene. Finally, the court entered the consent judgment sought by the DOJ and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. The judgment bars Kansas from enforcing the state law that allowed certain students without lawful immigration status who met specified requirements to qualify for regular tuition rates at public colleges and universities. Along with the notice of appeal challenging the denial of intervention, attorneys also filed a protective notice to preserve KanSAT’s right to challenge the consent judgment.
“The district court’s denial of intervention leaves members of KanSAT in a precarious situation of incurring high levels of student debt or leaving their respective program altogether,” said Luis Lozada, MALDEF staff attorney. “Rather than grapple with the intervention motion, the district court improperly adopted the reasoning of another circuit court; KanSAT filed an appeal in order for the Tenth Circuit to consider KanSAT’s meritorious arguments that align with precedent.”
Since 2004, Kansas law has allowed certain students without lawful immigration status who attended and graduated from Kansas high schools and met other requirements to qualify for regular tuition rates at public colleges and universities. MALDEF filed its motion to intervene on behalf of KanSAT on July 1, after the DOJ sued Kansas and sought to invalidate the law on the basis of a federal law on the books since 1996. The same day the DOJ lawsuit was filed, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach joined the federal government in asking the court to invalidate the law rather than defend it.
In their motion to intervene, attorneys argue that KanSAT’s members pursued higher education in Kansas in reliance on a decades-long promise that they would qualify for regular tuition rates. If those guarantees are eliminated, students could face thousands of dollars in unexpected tuition costs each semester, threatening their ability to complete their degrees. Many come from low-income families and are ineligible for federal financial aid, leaving them with few options to absorb the sudden financial burden. Some may be forced to take on significant debt, delay graduation, or withdraw from school altogether.
“We applaud the students in Kansas and their courage in speaking up for their future,” said Jessica Swonger, Staff Attorney for the ACLU of Kansas. “The Department of Justice, in collusion with Attorney General Kobach, should not be able to trod on the rights of hardworking Kansas students, and we will not stop fighting for educational opportunity.”
The appeal was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
A notice of appeal was filed in the District Court for the District of Kansas by MALDEF, joined by co-counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas.
Read the notice of appeal HERE.
Read the notice of protective appeal HERE.
MALDEF is also representing students challenging the elimination of regular tuition rates in Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Read more about this case and MALDEF’s work to defend tuition equity HERE.