PHOENIX — Saying that federal law determines who is here legally, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled today that "dreamers'' are entitled to the same tuition rates as other Arizona residents.
Judge Arthur Anderson rejected arguments by the Attorney General's Office that students who are accepted into the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program are not "lawfully present'' in the United States and therefore ineligible for in-state tuition.
Anderson said the federal Department of Homeland Security considers DACA recipients to be here legally. They even are issued Employment Authorization Documents that permit them to work.
"The state cannot establish subcategories of 'lawful presence,' picking and choosing when it will consider DACA recipients lawfully present and when it will not,'' the judge wrote. And he said that an EAD "is appropriate documentation of lawful presence.''
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Today's ruling affects students in the Maricopa Community College system. But it also is likely to buttress arguments by Pima Community College officials who, like their Maricopa counterparts, have offered in-state tuition to DACA recipients.
And it will help support arguments by the Arizona Board of Regents which is attempting to enact a special tuition structure for DACA recipients that, while not the same as in-state students, is less than the out-of-state tuition they have been paying.
