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Migrants who have missed documents from California high schools for 24 years receive in-state tuition benefits at public universities and universities under laws that many have been given access to higher education that they otherwise could not obtain.
When the California Legislature passed Congressional Bill 540 in 2001, accepting such teaching policies was the second state after Texas. Bipartisan efforts are growing rapidly across the country, with over 20 states adopting similar policies.
However, recent court lawsuits by the Trump administration have sparked vigilance among immigrant students, casting a shadow over California tuition benefits.
On June 4, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Texas over immigration lessons laws without authority, claiming it had violated federal laws that prevented people with no legal status from receiving public interest. Texas did not defend that law, instead added support behind the Trump administration, leaving 57,000 undocumented college students in educational scope after a federal judge blocked the law.
Last week, the DOJ launched a similar lawsuit in Kentucky, asking federal judges to overthrow state practices. This says that undocumented immigrants will have access to tuition fees at universities in the state, and that American citizens from other states will pay higher tuition fees to attend the same school.
“Under federal law, schools cannot provide benefits to illegal foreigners that do not provide to U.S. citizens,” Atty said. General Bondi described the Texas lawsuit in a statement showing the broader battle. “The Department of Justice will fight relentlessly to establish federal laws and ensure that U.S. citizens are not treated like second-class citizens anywhere in the country.”
Is California next?
Legal experts say it’s not a “what if” question, but a question of when and how the Trump administration will come for California law. The White House is already fighting a nation over liberal policies, including supporting transgender students in school sports. A sanctuary city opposes the ongoing federal immigration raid. Diversity, equity and inclusion programs in education.
“We’re waiting to see when it’s California’s turn,” said Kevin R. Johnson, dean of UC Davis Law School, which specializes in immigration. Johnson predicted that the White House is chasing “dashed fruits” in a more conservative state before Trump faces “solid resistance.”
The potential threat has shaken up undocumented students in California.
“If I’m no longer eligible for a reduced tuition fee, I really don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said, graduating last month with an associate degree from Santa Rosa Junior College, and in August he will register with the University of California Berkeley to earn his bachelor’s degree in media studies.
The difference between intrastate and out-of-state tuition fees for people like Enkis can be thousands of dollars at community colleges and tens of thousands of dollars at CSU and UC campuses. International students pay out-of-state fees. Santa Rosa Junior College averages tuition fees for students across the state for $621 for two semesters. For out-of-state students, it’s $5,427.
“What the Trump administration is trying to eliminate us is that we are trying to eliminate us,” said Enziques, who is aiming to run a public relations company someday. “They don’t want us to be educated or reach a position of power, and they try to dehumanize us as much as possible because everything is going on.”
Over 80,000 undocumented college students in California
Estimating campus and university-level data on undocumented student populations can be challenging.
Universities and universities track the number of undocumented students receiving tuition waiver under AB 540, but the data also includes citizens eligible for tuition fees within the state. These students grew up in the state and graduated from California high school before their families moved elsewhere.
Additionally, changes to the California Dream Act application make the numbers complicated. This was established for students without documentation to apply for state aid, but expanded to allow students who are citizens and have undocumented parents.
Of the nearly 296,000 students in the University of California system, between 2,000 and 4,000 are estimated to be undocumented. Across California State University’s campus, there are approximately 9,500 immigrants out of a total of 461,000 students who have no registered documents. The state’s largest undocumented group is estimated at 70,000, and consists of community college students and recent alumni such as Enriquez.
Born in Mexico, his family brought him to the US when he was one year old, and said that in-state tuition fees made his education incredibly affordable. His next stop, Berkeley, California, saw in-state tuition and handling fees reach $16,980 last year. Out-of-state and international students had to pay a total of $54,582.
What students say
Several undocumented students from UCLA, Cal State Los Angeles and other schools have been asked to be cited without their name, saying they are afraid that they will publicly identify themselves as they assume the three-week immigration raid in Southern California.
“I just want to go to school. What’s the problem?” An undocumented graduate student in Los Angeles, California said he has completed his bachelor’s degree from the UC campus. A Latin American research student asked him to withhold his name due to concerns about immigration enforcement agents targeting him.
“I don’t just want to go to school, I want to go to public universities. I want to contribute to my university. I want to be a professor, teach others, and support California,” he said. “Why is it so bent on ensuring that students don’t get educated and give back?”
Sandra, a Northridge student in California who asked to be identified only by her name, had a similar view. The undocumented immigrant whose parents brought her from Mexico to Los Angeles at the age of two, said she was not at university without the state’s tuition laws.
“I didn’t qualify for DACA so my money is thinning,” Sandra said. Sandra mentions an Obama-era program that has given undocumented immigrants who have arrived in the United States since 2021 to work.
Legal Questions
The Trump administration’s challenge to the tuition rules falls under the federal law of 1996 that Americans “should not qualify based on their residence within a nation without legal permission…unless a citizen or citizen of the United States is entitled to such interests…whether a citizen or citizen is such a resident.”
Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the UCLA Law School’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy, said: “Is it applicable to universities that do not use residencies as a tuition requirement but instead use high school graduations in the state?” he explained that state practices are different.
In California, undocumented immigrants who do not graduate from state high schools are usually not eligible for reduced tuition fees.
The Justice Department argued in court that giving immigrants in-state tuition fees without proper permission violated federal law. Some Trump opponents point out that the law doesn’t speak specifically to tuition rates, but the court interpreted the word “benefit” as including cheaper tuition fees.
In recent Texas, undocumented students, represented by the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund, have asked to file a complaint with the court and allow judges to insist on supporting a reduction in tuition fees.
Lesson policy survived other legal challenges.
Before the Trump administration stepped in, Texas law appeared legally sound after a federal court of appeals ruled in 2023 that North Texas University could claim students outside the state rather than claiming undocumented immigration. In that case, the court said the plaintiffs did not make a good claim that out-of-state students are being treated illegally in a different way than non-citizens. However, the court suggested there could be other legal challenges for tuition fees for immigrants without documents.
California law has also endured challenges. The state Supreme Court upheld its legality in 2010 after an out-of-state student sued. The following year, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of the case.
A California court concluded that undocumented immigrants were due to immigration status and were not receiving priority treatment because they attended and graduated from California schools. Justice said that US citizens who attended state schools and graduated had the same opportunity.
Still, momentum is being built to abolish in-state tuition fees for immigrants without legal documents.
This year, Florida lawmakers have had book rules for more than a decade allowing undocumented students to tuition waiver – eliminated the option. Before the federal lawsuit against Texas, state legislators also attempted and failed to follow Florida’s lead. This year’s legislative meeting also introduced bills in Kansas and Minnesota, but they have not passed.
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