‘First step to being vindicated': Judge blocks Trump Administration latest attack on Harvard
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Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump administration pushes states to exclude immigrant students from in-state tuition
Texas let undocumented young people qualify for in-state college tuition for 24 years. President Donald Trump convinced the state to unravel the policy in a matter of hours. Since returning to the White House, Trump's Justice Department has launched legal challenges against laws in Texas, Kentucky and Minnesota that allow undocumented students to pay the tuition rate reserved for state residents. That price can often be half of what out-of-state students are responsible for. Discounting tuition for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children has a long bipartisan history. Texas' law was signed by Republican then-Gov. Rick Perry and 23 red and blue states, plus the District of Columbia, followed, a political mood that's now reversing: Florida repealed its 2014 in-state tuition law this February. There are about 408,000 undocumented students representing less than 2 percent of those in college. The Justice Department argues these tuition laws unfairly offer a benefit to foreigners that is unavailable to U.S. citizens and legal residents living in a neighboring state. The legal offensive to roll back these laws, which is poised to spread, serves as another sign of how thoroughly the second Trump administration is going about enacting the president's promise to discourage illegal immigration and promote 'self-deportation.' 'This was something that used to not be political,' Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, said of the in-state tuition policies for undocumented students. 'It was the idea that if this is the only country you've ever known, that more than likely you will be here your entire life, and we should want you to be educated and productive.' But Kentucky's Republican attorney general, Russell Coleman, sided with Trump this summer, urging the state's council on postsecondary education to 'withdraw its regulation rather than litigate what I believe will be, and should be, a losing fight.' Texas, the first state the DOJ targeted with a lawsuit this year, ended its policy in coordination with the White House. The maneuver came after Attorney General Ken Paxton entered into a joint motion with the Justice Department, agreeing that providing in-state tuition to undocumented students wasn't constitutional. 'In-state tuition for illegal immigrants in Texas has ended,' Republican Gov. Greg Abbott wrote in a post on X last month. The policies are crumbling at a time when college enrollment — and the tuition dollars it brings in — fell about 15 percent between 2010 and 2021, according to the National Center for Education Statistics' most recent report. The math is also looking complicated for many schools because the State Department could impose restrictions on international student enrollment, and there is an overall decline in the number of high school seniors. But the Trump administration said states have created laws that favor undocumented students over U.S. citizens. 'Under federal law, schools cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,' Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement to POLITICO. 'The Justice Department will relentlessly fight to vindicate federal law and ensure that U.S. citizens are not treated like second-class citizens anywhere in the country.' About 119,000 undocumented students are protected under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program, which spurred in-state tuition laws for these students and received bipartisan support for years. Now, many Republicans are turning against such policies. Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) introduced the Florida bill in December that eventually ended the tuition break while serving in the state Legislature. He said the laws Trump is challenging amount to incentives for immigrants to cross the border. 'It's immoral to give in-state tuition to someone who shouldn't even be in America,' Fine said in an interview. 'Think about it. A Georgian who wants to go to Florida State is paying more to go to a Florida institution than a foreigner. It's just not right to do and that's why we cleaned it up in Florida. It's time for illegals to go home.' The Florida repeal took effect in July, prompting concern from education advocates who say the legislation could result in Florida institutions losing nearly $15 million in tuition and fees from potential drops in enrollment. In Texas, advocates say more than $461 million annually is at stake. 'What I know for certain is that a significant number of students are living with anxiety,' said Manuel Gonzalez, vice chair of the Austin Community College Board of Trustees, which is suing over Trump's challenge against Texas. 'Not just about how they're going to afford college, but how are they going to navigate an increasingly more hostile political climate that often vilifies their existence.' The National Immigration Law Center, alongside a host of organizations including the ACLU of Texas and Democracy Forward, are seeking to defend the Texas policy, challenging both the outcome and the process that led the state to gut its law. Education advocates argue that making college more expensive is hardly a deterrent for undocumented immigrants looking for a better life for their families. 'Nobody from Guatemala or Mexico starts googling and thinking, 'What state should I move to so that after my child finishes their education, they'll be able to get in-state tuition to a college?'' said Gaby Pacheco, president of The which advocates for DACA students' college education. The policies remain alive in more than 20 states, including California, New York, Kentucky and Minnesota, but opposition from Republicans is rising. A bill to block 'undocumented noncitizens' from accessing Minnesota's North Star Promise program, which makes college tuition free for state residents whose families make less than $80,000 a year, moved through the statehouse during the previous legislative session. Roughly 500 students a year qualify for in-state tuition in Minnesota under the state's Dream Act. The Trump administration's challenges stem from the president's April executive order that directed agencies to crack down on policies that benefit undocumented people and deemed in-state tuition laws illegal. On Wednesday, the Education Department announced five new probes into University of Louisville, University of Nebraska Omaha, University of Miami, University of Michigan and Western Michigan University, arguing that their scholarships for undocumented students are discriminatory. If Kentucky and Minnesota fold alongside Texas, other states could be vulnerable to the administration's efforts, immigration experts fear. 'Just as Texas was the first state to pass a Dream Act in 2001, later inspiring 23 other states and the District of Columbia to pass similar laws, this wrongful and undemocratic repeal of the law is now being pushed as a blueprint to undemocratically end in-state tuition, militarize college campuses and persecute students in other states,' Juan Jose Martinez-Guevara, Texas advocacy manager of the nonprofit United We Dream, said at a Tuesday press conference. Immigration advocates say there is supposed to be a legal carveout specifically for DACA students that allows them to pay in-state tuition rates, but confusion over the law has some Texas colleges charging those students the out-of-state rates. A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment on whether DACA students should be considered exempt. The number of DACA students is dwindling — both because of the program's 2007 arrival cutoff and legal challenges from the first Trump administration and others seeking to end it — but the president's actions could have long-lasting consequences, political analysts say. Trump's legal challenges contradict earlier promises to 'work with the Democrats on a plan' — as he noted in December — for Dreamers. That dissonance might cost Republicans some of the votes Trump received in 2024, particularly from independents and Hispanic Americans, said Brendan Steinhauser, an Austin-based political consultant who's worked with Texas Republicans such as Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Dan Crenshaw. 'He definitely did really, really well with Hispanic Americans, especially in South Texas and other places,' Steinhauser said. 'But he's not running for reelection. So, he may just think, well, it doesn't matter what his approval numbers are.' Steinhauser also insisted the president's legal challenges are in line with his larger crackdown on immigration. 'It's symbolic, yes, but it's all real,' he said. 'And it's having an impact, I believe, in the same way that these raids are having an impact on incentives.' Elena Schneider contributed to this report. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Official fired during Trump's first term appointed president of embattled US Institute of Peace
A senior State Department official who was fired as a speechwriter during President Donald Trump 's first term and has a history of incendiary statements has been appointed to lead the embattled U.S. Institute of Peace. The move to install Darren Beattie as the institute's new acting president is seen as the latest step in the administration's efforts to dismantle the embattled organization, which was founded as an independent, non-profit think tank. It is funded by Congress to promote peace and prevent and end conflicts across the globe. The battle is currently being played out in court. Beattie, who currently serves as the under secretary for public diplomacy at the State Department and will continue on in that role, was fired during Donald Trump's first term after CNN reported that he had spoken at a 2016 conference attended by white nationalists. He defended the speech he delivered as containing nothing objectionable. A former academic who taught at Duke University, Beattie also founded a right-wing website that shared conspiracies about the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and has a long history of posting inflammatory statements on social media. 'Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work,' he wrote on October 2024. 'Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men.' A State Department official confirmed Beattie's appointment by the USIP board of directors, which currently includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. '(W)e look forward to seeing him advance President Trump's America First agenda in this new role,' they said. The USPI has been embroiled in turmoil since Trump moved to dismantle it shortly after taking office as part of his broader effort to shrink the size of the federal government and eliminate independent agencies. Trump issued an executive order in February that targeted the organization and three other agencies for closure. The first attempt by the Department of Government Efficiency, formerly under the command of tech billionaire Elon Musk, to take over its headquarters led to a dramatic standoff. Members of Musk's group returned days later with the FBI and Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police to help them gain entry. The administration fired most of the institute's board, followed by the mass firing of nearly all of its 300 employees in what they called 'the Friday night massacre.' The institute and many of its board members sued the Trump administration in March, seeking to prevent their removal and to prevent DOGE from taking over the institute's operations. DOGE transferred administrative oversight of the organization's headquarters and assets to the General Services Administration that weekend. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell overturned those actions in May, concluding that Trump was outside his authority in firing the board and its acting president and that, therefore, all subsequent actions were also moot. Her ruling allowed the institute to regain control of its headquarters in a rare victory for the agencies and organizations that have been caught up in the Trump administration's downsizing. The employees were rehired, although many did not return to work because of the complexity of restarting operations. They received termination orders — for the second time, however, — after an appeals court stayed Howell's order. Most recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied the U.S. Institute of Peace's request for a hearing of the full court to lift the stay of a three-judge panel in June. That stay led to the organization turning its headquarters back over to the Trump Administration. In a statement, George Foote, former counsel for the institute, said Beattie's appointment 'flies in the face of the values at the core of USIP's work and America's commitment to working respectfully with international partners' and also called it 'illegal under Judge Howell's May 19 decision.' 'We are committed to defending that decision against the government's appeal. We are confident that we will succeed on the merits of our case, and we look forward to USIP resuming its essential work in Washington, D.C. and in conflict zones around the world,' he said.
New York Times
37 minutes ago
- New York Times
E.U. Cuts Aid to Ukraine Over Corruption Concerns
President Volodymyr Zelensky's anticorruption policies have already provoked Ukraine's first antigovernment protests since the Russian invasion in 2022. Now, it seems, they may cost the country a portion of its foreign aid from the European Union, in a clear rebuke from the bloc, once a staunch ally. The European Union said on Friday that it would withhold 1.5 billion euros, or $1.7 billion, from an overall fund of 4.5 billion euros whose disbursement is dependent on achieving good governance standards and that can't be used for military purchases. The decision is not final, however, and the funding can be restored if Ukraine meets certain benchmarks. Mr. Zelensky had no public comment on the aid cut, which nevertheless was a setback for Ukraine's leader, who is depending on European financial support to fill gaps left by the Trump administration's refusal to underwrite Ukraine's war effort. While holding back Western aid to spur reform was common before Russia's invasion, Friday's decision seemed to signal a new willingness by the bloc to admonish Mr. Zelensky's government on domestic policy during the war. It also raised questions about whether the glow around Mr. Zelensky might be beginning to dim among Ukraine's Western allies. James Wasserstrom, an American anticorruption expert, said in an interview that 'the luster is definitely coming off' Mr. Zelensky's wartime leadership among governments providing financial assistance. He added, 'There is exasperation at Zelensky in the donor community.' The E.U.'s decision capped a tumultuous week for Mr. Zelensky, who first pushed a measure through Parliament that stripped the independence of two anticorruption agencies, raising protests from foreign leaders as well as the Ukrainian people. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
