'Nonsensical' illegal immigrant tuition policy scrapped in Kentucky, Bondi lawsuit deal

A lawsuit brought by Attorney General Pam Bondi against Kentucky's public education apparatus over in-state tuition for illegal immigrants resulted in an agreement to end the practice, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman told Fox News Digital in a Thursday interview.

Coleman said the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (KCPE) agreed to change state policy two months after the Justice Department first took the commonwealth to court over a provision in state law 13 KAR 2:045. 

The suit alleged Kentucky's policy violated 18 USC 1623, which states that "notwithstanding any other provision of law, an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a state for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit … without regard to whether the citizen or national is such a resident."

The DOJ originally had named Kentucky Gov. Andrew Beshear as the defendant, but Beshear's office previously told Fox New Digital that the KCPE is independent of the governor's office.

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Coleman noted that governors do, however, have a role in appointing members to the council.

"Under current federal law, any illegal immigrant is barred from eligibility for postsecondary education benefits, like in-state tuition, unless the same benefits are offered to every U.S. citizen," Coleman said.

Bondi noted in a statement obtained by Coleman's office that "no state can be allowed to treat Americans like second-class citizens in their own country by offering financial benefits to illegal aliens."

In his interview, Coleman said that the decision is not quite official until the federal district judge signs the agreement between the parties - which he stressed is just a formality.

"Nonsensical is not a term that I didn't expect to use as often as I have the last year," he said of the case.

"It's a term from a Harry Potter book or a Roald Dahl book, but nonsensical is spot on and what we're dealing with here," Coleman said of what he called putting illegal immigrants and noncitizens before Americans.

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Coleman said the original policy incentivized noncitizens to come to Kentucky over other states that may not offer them the same leg up.

"There is a joint motion for what is known as a consent judgment," he said, adding that he has not formally put out any statement on the case as of yet in due respect to the judge who has to sign the consent agreement.

In Fox News Digital's prior reporting, a spokesperson for Beshear noted the governor has no authority over KCPE, but Coleman appeared not entirely convinced of the dynamic.

Beshear "won't hesitate to take credit for any positive policy that comes out of KCPE," he said. "He appointed most members of the KCPE and in real world you're responsible for those that you appoint to these roles, that you have influence on those you appoint to these role, but yet of course who wants to walk away from that because of the nonsensical nature of this."

Coleman, who was a former U.S. attorney before becoming the commonwealth's top lawman, said it should not have taken Bondi and the Trump administration to put an end to in-state tuition for illegal immigrants in the Bluegrass State.

"I do applaud the fact that (KCPE) did the right thing and followed the law, but it took the Justice Department and all of its legal leverage and the chief law enforcement officer of the state opining on the legality before they did right thing," he said. "That's disappointing." 

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"They should be stewards of these institutions," he said. "What they do is important and we have great universities in this commonwealth. They need to be focusing on incentivizing. The best and the brightest to come to this commonwealth, not incentivizing those that are out of status, that are violating our laws."

He also said he hopes Bondi will continue pursuing others of the more than a dozen states with similar policies.

"I'm fully on board with common sense returning and whether it is protecting girls from men playing in their sports to enforcing federal law in the immigration context," he said. "I'm for our universities supporting our best and brightest and not perpetuating this incentive for those that are out of status to fill seats in the classrooms."

"That is not only unlawful, it comes back to the notion of just head-scratching and nonsensical."

Fox News Digital reached out to Beshear's office, the Justice Department and a representative for KCPE for comment.