Can the DACA 'Kids' get Instate College Tuition Rates? Not so far in Georgia

That is what D.A. King reported on his Immigration Politics Georgia website earlier this month in the wake of an Appellate court decision.

The gist of  the decision is that Georgia does not have any responsibility to allow those illegal aliens known as DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients to attend college on the taxpayer’s dime.
DACA kids are not lawfully present says the court, they only have their removal deferred at the moment!
Below is a bit of King’s report.
But first, his website is a reminder of what you all should be doing in your states as King explains,

ImmigrationPoliticsGA.com was created in late 2018 with personal funds in an effort to provide news and opinion now mostly muffled and hidden by the MSM in Georgia.

The story about the DACA ‘kids’ lawsuit is here,

Appellate Court: Not lawfully present, illegal aliens with DACA are illegal aliens – Georgia issuing public benefits based on disputed status

Illegal aliens who have been awarded deferred action on deportation proceedings through the DACA amnesty by both the Obama and Trump administrations are illegal aliens and do not have “lawful presence” says the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The decision was handed down March 6, 2019.
The ruling was in response to a suit brought by several illegal aliens in Georgia who are challenging the Board of Regents policy that requires lawful presence for instate tuition purposes and admittance to some USG universities.
A group of DACA recipients sued the leaders of the Georgia higher education system in 2016, which bars aliens who are not “lawfully present” from enrolling in some Georgia colleges and universities, even if they would academically qualify for admission. “The students argued that they were lawfully present under federal law, which preempted state law. They also claimed that the admissions bar violated their right to equal protection, as Georgia treats aliens who are paroled into the U.S. or granted asylum as “lawfully present” reported the Immigration Reform Law Institute.
The Eleventh Circuit rejected all of the students’ claims. The court noted that “lawfully present” is not a standalone immigration classification, and it is not defined anywhere in the (Immigration and Nationality) Act” *(opinion here).
The ruling is consistent with an official October 2017 statement to this writer from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that “current law does not grant any legal status for the class of individuals who are current recipients of DACA. Recipients of DACA are currently unlawfully present in the U.S. with their removal deferred.”

To learn more continue here.

What about your state?

Several years ago many in Maryland fought very hard to try to stop legislation that allows those in the country illegally to receive the lower instate tuition rate at Maryland colleges.  We lost.
I wanted to know what the national picture looked like on the issue and found this at the National Conference of State Legislatures.  (I am assuming it is pretty much up-to-date.)

Currently, at least 18 states have provisions allowing for in-state tuition rates for undocumented students. Sixteen states—California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington—extend in-state tuition rates to undocumented students through state legislation. Two states—Oklahoma and Rhode Island—allow in-state tuition rates to undocumented students through Board of Regents decisions. In 2013, the University of Hawaii’s Board of Regents and the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents adopted similar policies for undocumented students to access in-state tuition at those institutions. In April 2014, Virginia’s attorney general started granting in-state tuition to those covered under the federal Defferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
At least six states—California, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington—currently allow undocumented students to receive state financial aid.
Three states—Arizona, Georgia and Indiana—specifically prohibit in-state tuition rates for undocumented students, and two states—Alabama and South Carolina— prohibit undocumented students from enrolling at any public postsecondary institution.

More here.
I’m guessing the DACA recipients are out state-shopping!
Dirty little secret!
Or, more likely, as was the case in Maryland, all one had to do was check the box affirming that you were a resident and NO ONE ever asked if you were a citizen and certainly NO ONE asked for any proof of citizenship.

Again, looking for what you should do?  Consider writing a blog or website focused on your state!  One day when facebook and twitter try to shut down your views, you will at least have your blog (for awhile anyway!).  D.A. King’s is a good model!

Endnote:  I mentioned D.A. King’s work in Georgia earlier this month here.