NEWS: AB 540 reopened for debate

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BANQ12UI6C.DTL

What should we do??????!!!!!!

To help you guys understand the California court process, please refer to the following document:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/c.../casescome.pdf

There is a scary fact from the above statement:

A party who does not like the outcome in the Court of Appeal can seek further review by the California Supreme Court. This is done by a petition for review, which is a document that resembles a brief.

The main job of the California Supreme Court is to promote justice by overseeing the development and consistency of the law. It is not a court of last resort to make sure every case was handled correctly. Therefore, it has no obligation to review every decision of the Court of Appeal. In fact, it receives thousands of petitions for review every year and it grants fewer than 5 percent of them.


only 5% of them? I couldn't count on it.

No. fucking. way... I am just... so mad right now.

But, I do hope this gets to higher courts... We're not completely screwed yet.

fXXking idiot, this is in california.....OMG........

yeahh this is just for cali, Please specify with these kinda things. Im not from cali and althought most are, some ppl on here aren't either.

Shocked beyond all belief. MY gf is an AB 540 student. You know, for some reason I imagine those out-of-state students to be from Arizona (just guessing!). Anyway, what those retarded Arizonans didn't realize is that AB 540 is not based solely on being here illegally, it's based on California residency!! In other words, AB 540 students have lived in and went to high school in California!! Not some wild west town in Arizona (Phoenix is a dead city, by the way; no life whatsoever even on a weekday!), but our state. I can't believe it. I want to type more, but I am too angry.

Undocumented students' college aid in jeopardy
Tanya Schevitz, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

A state appellate court has put a financial cloud over the future of tens of thousands of undocumented California college students, saying a state law that grants them the same heavily subsidized tuition rate that is given to resident students is in conflict with federal law.

In a ruling reached Monday, the state Court of Appeal reversed a lower court's decision that there were no substantial legal issues and sent the case back to the Yolo County Superior Court for trial.

"It has a huge impact," said Kris Kobach, an attorney for the plaintiffs and a law professor at the University Missouri at Kansas City. "This is going to bring a halt to the law that has been giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrants."

He said it is a big win for California taxpayers who have been subsidizing education for undocumented immigrants.

The suit was filed in 2005 by out-of-state students attending California colleges. They challenged the state's practice of allowing illegal immigrants to pay significantly lower tuition than they pay at the University of California, the California State University and the California Community Colleges.

UC charges out-of-state students nearly $18,000 a year more than it charges resident and undocumented students who graduated from California high schools. At CSU, out-of-state students pay about $8,000 more. And at the state's 110 community colleges, they pay an average of about $160 a unit instead of $20 per unit - or $1,920 for a full load instead of $240.

The suit was dismissed by the Yolo County Superior Court in 2006, setting up the appeal.

On Monday, three justices of the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento said that a 2001 state law, AB540, conflicts with federal law. The state law provides the benefit of in-state tuition to undocumented students while the federal law says an illegal immigrant cannot receive that benefit unless the same benefit is extended to all U.S. citizens without regard to California residency.

The three California college systems specifically limit the benefits to students who attended a California high school for at least three years and graduated from a state high school.

In the ruling, the appellate justices said: "The state statute allows the benefit to U.S. citizens from other states only if they attend a California high school for three years. Thus, the state statute does not afford the same benefit to U.S. citizens 'without regard to' California residence," as required by the federal law.

Representatives from the state's three public college systems say they are still reviewing the ruling. UC attorney Chris Patti said the appellate court did arm the plaintiffs with an argument to say that the case should go in their favor because the AB540 conflicts with federal law.

However, he said, UC and the other schools argue that despite the appellate court's opinion, the benefit is not based on residency.

"The central issue in the case is whether or not the criteria for in-state fees is based on residency or not, and the Legislature carefully constructed the statute so that it was not based on residency," Patti said. "It is based on whether you went to a California high school and graduated from a California high school, and those criteria are not based on residency."

If the law is struck down, it has the potential to financially devastate undocumented students, who are not eligible for state or federal aid. For many, it may mean the difference between attending school and dropping out, Patti said.

"What we are concerned about are the students who are caught in the middle of this legal dispute," said CSU spokeswoman Claudia Keith.

The CSU system does not track the number of illegal immigrant students. There are an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 students at the state's community colleges who receive the benefit. UC has about 1,600 students using the benefit.

The ruling was disturbing news to those undocumented students who need the subsidy to stay in school.

"It's very shocking. It worries me," said Gesel, 25, a community college student who already works to afford to go to school part-time at West Valley College in Saratoga. "It would affect how many courses I take. I'm saving money now to go to a four-year school, but if I had to pay as an (out-of-state) student, I couldn't do it."

Gesel, who declined to give her last name because of her immigration status, has lived in California since she was 9 but is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico with no path to legal status under current immigration laws.

"We were raised in this country. Most of our life is here," she said.




This article is from that web site
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BANQ12UI6C.DTL

Wait Wait... from the article, it is not decided yet... right??? It's going through the court right now... Hopefully it will all be well because if not...
There goes my future... BYE BYE... school... Arg this puts basically all my plans in jeopardy now...
No bloody way I can continue on if I have to pay out of state intuition...

I think so....?

That's insane.

"If the law is struck down, it has the potential to financially devastate undocumented students, who are not eligible for state or federal aid. For many, it may mean the difference between attending school and dropping out, Patti said."

It has not been struck down!!!!!! However, those of in CALI should come up with a game plan to stop this nonsense!! Any Suggestions???????