By Gary Grado | Arizona Capitol Times
Attorney General Tom Horne is on the verge of suing the Maricopa County Community College District for allowing in-state tuition for students whose parents brought them to the United States illegally when they were children.
Whether Horne sues depends on the outcome of a closed-door meeting of the school district’s board and its lawyers on Tuesday.
Assistant Attorney General Kevin Ray has notified the district that its policy violates state law, which prohibits colleges and universities from offering in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, and violates a federal law that prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving any state or local public benefit.
The school district, however, is accepting work permits granted through the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to prove “legal presence” in the country.
A work permit is one of several documents the state will accept to prove legal presence for the purposes of receiving public benefits.
