In yet another win for those hoping to see more sanity out of state-level governments now that the Trump Administration is in charge and pressuring them to do the right thing and fight back against the invaders who poured into America under President Joe Biden, the purple state of Kentucky has backed off a policy that gave scholarships to illegal aliens going to in-state universities.
As background, while Kentucky has a reputation for being a very MAGA-type state due to its Appalachian position and generally MAGA-aligned interests, such as in reindustrialization, it does have a Democratic governor, much as West Virginia was long represented by former Democratic Senator Joe Manchin.
While the Kentucky Democrats are typically sane, the illegal immigration aspect of the political equation has been a major fight between Kentucky’s officials and the Trump Administration. For example, there was a major spat over Louisville’s sanctuary city policies, and that led to the city backing down. Now there is the battle over the scholarship program, and it appears the state is backing down on that front too.
Such is what was announced by Fox News Digital, which noted in a report that Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman had told it in an interview that the state public education apparatus is backing off of the in-state tuition for illegals policy in response to the suit from AG Pam Bondi and her Department of Justice.
The DOJ argued, in its suit, that 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.”
Demanding adherence to that law and hammering the state for ever pushing a policy that benefits illegal aliens at the expense of American citizens, AG Bondi’s office said, Fox News Digital notes, that “no state can be allowed to treat Americans like second-class citizens in their own country by offering financial benefits to illegal aliens.”
Kentucky AG Colmean, for his part, noted that the Kentucky policy fell afoul of the law because non-Kentucky resident American taxpayers were penalized by it for the benefit of illegals, saying, “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.”
"*" indicates required fields
Further, Coleman, who noted that the agreement isn’t official until the federal district judge signs it, got in a jab at the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (KCPE), saying what it had done here, putting illegals first and Americans last, was utterly nonsensical and very aggravating.
He said, commenting on the case and the KCPE’s original policy, “Nonsensical is not a term that I didn’t expect to use as often as I have the last year.” He added, “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 also got in a jab at Kentucky Gov. Beshear, saying, “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.”
Concluding, Coleman noted that while the right thing was eventually done, it’s disappointing it took so much effort on the DOJ’s part. He said, “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 the right thing. That’s disappointing.”
Watch Pam Bondi comment on the legal campaign against sanctuary cities here: