Many illegal aliens now eligible for free college in Minnesota

Many illegal aliens now eligible for free college in Minnesota

Minnesota has now joined other states like Washington State and California in giving tuition discounts to illegal aliens. There benefits are often not available to legal aliens in the country lawfully, such as the children of H1-B visa holders who are legally working for American companies.

Under recent legislation passed largely along party lines by Minnesota’s state legislature, illegal immigrants will be exempt from having to pay college tuition if their families are below a certain household income level.

The “North Star Promise” program “will create a tuition and fee-free pathway to higher education for eligible Minnesota residents at eligible institutions as a ‘last-dollar’ program by covering the balance of tuition and fees remaining after other scholarships, grants, stipends and tuition waivers have been applied,” says the Minnesota Office of Higher Education.

That includes illegal aliens who meet certain criteria, according to the state education department. The legislation goes into effect in fall 2024. A family’s “Adjusted Gross Income” must be “below $80,000,” according to MOHE.

This legislation violates a federal law that is never enforced by the Justice Department. Federal law mandates that government entities that give tuition discounts to illegal immigrants must also give the same discount to out-of-state residents. However, this program is only open to Minnesota residents, not out-of-state residents.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act of 1996 mandates that “an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State (or a political subdivision) for any postsecondary education benefit” unless the same benefits are provided to U.S. citizens.

However, the Justice Department never enforced this requirement against illegal aliens getting in-state tuition, not even under President Trump. “If the DOJ actually enforced the law those states would lose, they’d be forced to either stop providing in-state tuition to illegal immigrants or get rid of increased tuition for U.S. citizens,” says former Federal Elections Commissioner Hans Von Spakovsky.

Not only does the Justice Department not enforce this law, courts have ruled that out-of-state residents cannot sue to enforce it, either, because the federal law does not explicitly create a private right of action to sue for violations of it, so those courts say only the federal government can enforce it — which it seems not inclined to do.

Other states are also working to expand enrollment of illegal immigrants in state colleges, such as by expanding their access to campus jobs that will enable them to earn enough to pay for living expenses. The University of California system recently announced it would hire illegal immigrants for campus jobs, despite federal employment laws that may prohibit that.

LU Staff

LU Staff

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