Overview
- The Department of Justice sued Kansas and, on June 24, filed a joint proposed consent decree with the state that would permanently bar enforcement of a Kansas law granting in‑state tuition to some undocumented students.
- Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach declined to defend the statute and joined the DOJ in asking a federal judge to declare the law invalid as preempted by federal immigration statutes.
- The Kansas law lets students who attended a Kansas high school for three years, graduated or earned a Kansas GED, and signed an affidavit about seeking legal status qualify for in‑state tuition.
- Civil‑rights groups including the ACLU of Kansas say the consent decree would harm students raised in Kansas, while the DOJ says the move follows prior wins in Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Nebraska and enforces federal limits on state benefits for people unlawfully present.
- If a judge approves the consent decree it would stop colleges and universities in Kansas from applying the statute and could affect similar state policies nationwide where the DOJ has brought or plans lawsuits.