ABOR Says They Aren't Concerned About Lawsuit Threats Over DREAMer Tuition Decision

Published: Friday, August 11, 2017 - 7:27am
Updated: Friday, August 11, 2017 - 7:31am

Members of the Arizona Board of Regents told Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich this week that they have no plans to hike tuition for DREAMers until the supreme court tells them to do so.

The statement was part of the group’s response to Brnovich’s demand in July that the regents explain their policy to allow those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to pay in-state tuition if they meet other residency requirements.

The Attorney General’s office has already said they prefer to wait for the high court decision before suing over the same issue, however this time, former Arizona Senate president Russell Pearce is threatening to sue if the Attorney General’s office does not. But Board Chairman Bill Ridenour said board members are not concerned.

"But by the time they file litigation and we go through all the time lapses in the lower court, the Arizona Supreme Court surely will have given us some direction by that time," he said.

The legal question in this issue centers around whether DREAMers have “legal status” in the country in addition to their "legal presence" that the Obama era policy gave them. A lower court said no earlier this summer.

If the high court agrees, regents say their fallback policy will be to offer these students a tuition rate of 150 percent of the in state level.

Education