(Substack)—Kentucky has reached an agreement to discontinue in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants, marking a significant shift in state policy after a legal challenge from the Department of Justice. The settlement comes two months after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a lawsuit alleging that Kentucky’s approach violated federal immigration law.
The dispute centered on a provision in Kentucky Administrative Regulation 13 KAR 2:045, which had allowed undocumented individuals to qualify for reduced tuition based on residency. Federal statute 8 U.S.C. § 1623 prohibits states from offering postsecondary education benefits to those not lawfully present in the U.S. unless the same perks are available to all American citizens regardless of their state of residence.
“Under current federal law, any illegal immigrant is barred from eligibility for postsecondary education benefits, like in-state tuition, unless the same benefits are offered to every U.S. citizen,” said Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman in an interview.
Bondi, leading the Justice Department’s effort, emphasized the priority of American citizens in her statement: “no state can be allowed to treat Americans like second-class citizens in their own country by offering financial benefits to illegal aliens.”
Coleman described the now-defunct policy as baffling and out of step with legal standards. “Nonsensical is not a term that I didn’t expect to use as often as I have the last year,” he said. He added, “It’s a term from a Harry Potter book or a Roald Dahl book, but nonsensical is spot on and what we’re dealing with here,” referring to the practice of prioritizing noncitizens over Americans.
The agreement involves the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (KCPE), which oversees higher education policy in the state. While the deal awaits a federal judge’s formal approval, Coleman called it a mere procedural step.
He expressed disappointment that it required federal intervention to resolve the issue, noting, “I do applaud the fact that (KCPE) did the right thing and followed the law, but it took the Justice Department and all of its legal leverage and the chief law enforcement officer of the state opining on the legality before they did right thing.”
Coleman pointed to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s influence over the KCPE, where the governor appoints most members. “He appointed most members of the KCPE and in real world you’re responsible for those that you appoint to these roles, that you have influence on those you appoint to these role, but yet of course who wants to walk away from that because of the nonsensical nature of this,” Coleman said. He suggested Beshear “won’t hesitate to take credit for any positive policy that comes out of KCPE.”
This resolution aligns with a broader push under the Trump administration to enforce federal immigration rules in education. Kentucky joins states like Texas, which recently ended its long-standing in-state tuition policy for undocumented students after a similar DOJ settlement.
Florida has also repealed its version, with Gov. Ron DeSantis stating, “We should not be subsidizing illegal immigration through our higher education system.” Currently, 23 states and the District of Columbia still provide such benefits, but legal challenges continue in places like Minnesota.
Coleman voiced support for extending these efforts nationwide. “I’m fully on board with common sense returning and whether it is protecting girls from men playing in their sports to enforcing federal law in the immigration context,” he said. He stressed the need for universities to focus on American students: “I’m for our universities supporting our best and brightest and not perpetuating this incentive for those that are out of status to fill seats in the classrooms.” “That is not only unlawful, it comes back to the notion of just head-scratching and nonsensical.”
The Justice Department and Beshear’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the settlement.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: Education Report
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://americafirstreport.com and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.
