Kansas could be next in line for a federal lawsuit over benefits for illegal aliens, the state’s attorney general said this week.
Kansas law grants in-state tuition benefits for illegal aliens but illegally denies them for U.S. citizens from other states, Attorney General Kris Kobach warns in an opinion requested by state Rep. Samantha Poetter Parshall.
The law in question requires postsecondary education institutions to offer in-state tuition to illegal immigrants if they attended a Kansas high school for at least three years.
“For more than 20 years, Kansas has been violating federal law with impunity,” Kobach says. “Now, the Trump Department of Justice is cracking down on states that have been violating that specific law banning in-state tuition for illegal aliens.”
The Kansas law conflicts with two federal laws – and, quoting caselaw, Kobach argues “any state law, however clearly within a State’s acknowledged power, which interferes with or is contrary to federal law, must yield” to federal law.
One of the federal laws in question blocks illegal aliens from receiving benefits unless a state law created after August 1996 provides such eligibility. But while the current Kansas law was enacted in the early 2000s, Kobach argues its wording doesn’t meet the standards of the loophole and should be considered void.
The second federal law Kobach argues is being violated by the state forbids states from giving illegal aliens postsecondary education benefits based on residency unless the same benefits are available for U.S. citizens.
But under Kansas law, Kobach notes, American citizens with the same criteria aren’t eligible for the same benefits.
The Trump administration considers that several other states, such as Illinois, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Texas, have also been in violation of the relevant federal law. The Department of Justice began suing such states last year.
Kobach warns a federal lawsuit isn’t in Kansas’ best interest and would likely result in a loss.
“Seven states have already been sued, and the federal government has already prevailed in two of them,” Kobach says. “Kansas legislators would do well to bring Kansas into compliance with the law rather than being sued by the federal government.”
