MALDEF LAUDS CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT RULING UPHOLDING AB 540, WAIVER OF OUT-OF-STATE FEES FOR ALL QUALIFIED STUDENTS
LOS ANGELES, CA – Today, MALDEF applauded the California Supreme Court's ruling in Martinez v. Regents, upholding the California law known as AB 540. AB 540 provides a waiver of out-of-state tuition fees at California's public colleges and universities for students - regardless of immigration status - who have completed three years at a California high school and have attained a high school diploma, or the equivalent thereof.
In response to the ruling, MALDEF President and General Counsel Thomas A. Saenz remarked, "This important and beneficial ruling vindicates the careful process followed in drafting AB 540 to ensure that it complies with federal law. The Court's decision means that California's institutions of higher education will continue to be strengthened by the inclusion of some of our state's brightest and most successful students, who simply lack legal status due to the nation's failure to enact the widely-supported DREAM Act."
In today's ruling, the California Supreme Court concluded that California's tuition waiver met the requirements established by federal law to allow the State to provide a post-secondary education tuition waiver to graduates of California high schools, including undocumented students, who have proven ties to the State. Such ties includes the payment of taxes to the State. In its decision, the Court explained that, even though the federal government has established some restrictions on state power, states retain the power to enable undocumented students to have meaningful access to college education.
In 2005, a national anti-immigrant group filed a lawsuit in California state court challenging the validity of AB 540. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of students with minimal to no ties to California, claiming that AB 540 was in violation of federal law. MALDEF represented students receiving the AB 540 tuition waiver at the trial court level, and continued to represent them as Amicus Curiae in the Supreme Court.
Founded in 1968, MALDEF is the nation’s leading Latino legal civil rights organization. Often described as the “law firm of the Latino community,” MALDEF promotes social change through advocacy, communications, community education, and litigation in the areas of education, employment, immigrant rights, and political access. For more information on MALDEF, please visit: www.maldef.org
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