A right-wing anti-Latino organization has filed a lawsuit against the University of Houston, Houston Community College, and Lone Star College in a challenge to a program which provides undocumented students the opportunity to attend college at in-state tuition rates.
What is known as HB1403, authored by then-State Rep. Rick Noriega and signed into law a Republican Governor, has been under attack on the political side with attacks coming from anti-Latino Republicans, such as Debbie “Pits of Hell” Riddle.
The law basically permits a student who has established residency in a school district the opportunity for the in-state tuition rate. Texas, along with ten (10) other states, supports this law as a means of expanding educational opportunities.
Michael Olivas, a UH Law Professor, has stated the lawsuit has no merit.
Olivas also cited a 2008 letter from the Department of Homeland Security to the North Carolina Attorney’s General office that said federal law does not prohibit the admission of undocumented students to universities and colleges.
“The state can, and did act properly, and the statute is constitutional,” said Olivas, who also served as an expert witness when a similar law was later challenged in Kansas.
Let’s just hope this frivolous and racially motivated lawsuit gets thrown out.
Of course, if President Obama and the Democratic “majority” got off its hind quarters and passed the DREAM Act now, we wouldn’t be having to deal with this.
