Oklahoma ends in-state tuition for illegal immigrants after DOJ lawsuit
Oklahoma is the fourth state where the DOJ has taken action over such policies, following similar cases in Texas, Minnesota, and Kentucky.
Currently, more than 20 states and Washington, D.C. continue to provide in-state tuition rates for illegal alien students.
Oklahoma will no longer offer in-state tuition benefits for illegal alien students after the Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the state, alleging the policy violated federal immigration law.
The DOJ filed a complaint asserting that Oklahoma unlawfully granted in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students. In response, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican, filed a motion in support of repealing the state law. A U.S. District Court judge granted the motion, ending the policy.
“Today marks the end of a longstanding exploitation of Oklahoma taxpayers, who for many years have subsidized colleges and universities as they provide unlawful benefits to illegal immigrants in the form of in-state tuition,” Drummond wrote in a press release.
[RELATED: Fight heats up over illegal immigrants’ lower tuition rates: WATCH]
Oklahoma is the fourth state where the DOJ has taken action over such policies, following similar cases in Texas, Minnesota, and Kentucky.
“Rewarding foreign nationals who are in our country illegally with lower tuition costs that are not made available to out-of-state American citizens is not only wrong—it is discriminatory and unlawful,” Drummond wrote.
The Oklahoma lawsuit, resolved in only a few days, mirrored Texas’ speedy lawsuit, which overturned a decades-old state law and ended in-state tuition for illegal immigrants in just hours.
The political makeup of Oklahoma and Texas contributed to their swift turnarounds. Oklahoma has consistently voted Republican in every presidential election since 1968 and saw every county vote Republican in the November 2024 election. Both red states were quick to align state law with federal requirements.
Oklahoma state law previously allowed illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities if they graduated from an Oklahoma high school and had lived in the state for at least two years before graduation.
“Federal law prohibits aliens not lawfully present in the United States from getting in-state tuition benefits that are denied to out-of-state U.S. citizens,” the DOJ’s complaint reads.
The DOJ argued that Oklahoma’s state law is unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and thus the court should declare it illegal.
“This unequal treatment of Americans is squarely prohibited and preempted by federal law, which expressly provides that ‘an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State ... for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit,” the lawsuit states.
Currently, more than 20 states and Washington, D.C. continue to provide in-state tuition rates to illegal alien students.
Campus Reform has contacted the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education for comment.
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