DENVER—The children of illegal immigrants can pay in-state tuition at state colleges and universities if they are citizens and their parents can prove they’ve been living in Colorado, the attorney general ruled Tuesday.
While the state bars illegal immigrants from getting any public benefits, Attorney General John Suthers said that in-state tuition is technically a benefit for the student, and not their illegal immigrant parents, so they should be treated just like other students in applying for the reduced rate.
Suthers researched the law at the request of state higher education chief David Skaggs, who was concerned that some schools were asking such students to pay out-of-state tuition.
The ruling will affect an estimated 75 students this year but Skaggs said there could be others who have been worried about applying who could now take advantage of the option. With in-state tuition up to four times as high as out-of-state rates, Skaggs said a residency status can determine whether a students gets to go to college and what kind of career they pursue.
“It is a life changing thing,” he said.
Skaggs said he had no plans to push for in-state tuition for students who themselves are illegal immigrants as 10 other states have done. Previous efforts to give in-state tuition to all students who attend Colorado high schools regardless of their immigration status have failed in the Legislature.
At issue in the opinion were only students who are under 22 and United States citizens and still claimed as financial dependents by parents who are in the country illegally. Confusion arose partly because state lawmakers passed a law last year barring illegal immigrants from getting any public benefits. Metropolitan State College of Denver had been denying such students in-state tuition before that because of previous opinions from the attorney general’s office and the higher education commission but president Stephen Jordan reversed that last week.
Another law says that residency status for unemancipated minors depends on where their parents live.
Suthers said even someone who is in the U.S. illegally can still prove they live in Colorado. He pointed to a 1971 state appeals court ruling in which a student who became an illegal resident after overstaying a visa was allowed to get in-state tuition by proving residency.
Suthers said that illegal immigrant parents, like all other parents of college students, must still prove that they have lived in the Colorado during the last year. He said that will vary from family to family but the law says that proof of residency includes paying state income taxes, owning property, registering car or having a job in the state.
Julie Gonzales of Padres Y Jovenes Unidos, which works with students in Denver high schools, said she thinks parents will be able to provide that proof.
“There’s definitely going to be students who graduate this next year who are going to be thrilled that they have access to higher education,” she said.
But Gabriela Flora of American Friends Service Committee, which has advocated for immigrant rights, said it’s possible some parents may not have utility bills or cars registered under their names because of the fearful climate created by the state’s immigration laws.
State Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, said Suthers’ hands were tied by existing state and federal laws but he would like the law changed so that children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants don’t automatically become citizens.
