Oklahoma has agreed to bar undocumented immigrants from qualifying for in-state tuition after the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit.
On Aug. 5, the DOJ filed a complaint that argues an Oklahoma state law conflicts with federal law, which prohibits universities from giving benefits to undocumented immigrants that aren’t available to U.S. citizens. The suit alleges “non-equal treatment” because noncitizens are able to access in-state tuition — generally thousands of dollars cheaper than paying the out-of-state rate — while U.S. students from other states are not. The state agreed to end the policy after the complaint was filed.
Oklahoma’s Republican attorney general, Gentner Drummond, had been working with the DOJ on the issue for the past two months, so the lawsuit wasn’t a surprise to him.