Trump Lawsuit Targets Undocumented University of Hawaiʻi Students

The Aloha State has become the latest target of the Trump administration's effort to end tuition benefits for undocumented immigrants attending college in the United States. 

Hawaiʻi policies providing in-state tuition to undocumented students are unconstitutional and discriminate against out-of-state citizens who don't receive the same benefits, according to a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit filed on Thursday.

All 10 University of Hawaiʻi campuses offer discounted tuition to residents, including undocumented students who graduated from a U.S. high school and lived in the state for at least a year. Last year, in-state undergraduate tuition at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa was $11,520, compared to $33,552 for non-residents. 

The federal government also filed complaints against Arkansas, Utah and the District of Columbia on Thursday, bringing the total number of lawsuits filed against states over tuition policies to 25. The lawsuits ask the courts to stop states from providing in-state tuition and financial assistance to undocumented students at public colleges. 

The federal lawsuits have seen some success in other parts of the U.S. so far, with courts striking down related laws in at least five states this summer. Roughly 525,000 students are undocumented nationwide – less than 3% of all college-goers, according to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal. 

“This is a simple matter of federal law: Colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said in a press release. "This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country."

UH, which is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, had not been served the complaint as of Thursday afternoon, and university officials are not commenting at this time, spokesperson Moanikeʻala Nabarro said in an emailed statement. The Attorney General's Office also has not been served the complaint and generally does not comment on pending litigation, spokesperson Toni Schwartz said.  

The university does not publish the number of undocumented students enrolled at its campuses. Last spring, roughly 22% of UH students were out-of-state students. 

The UH Board of Regents policy, passed in 2013, requires undocumented students to have lived in Hawaiʻi for 12 months, attended a high school in the U.S. for at least three years and earned a high school diploma or equivalent to qualify for in-state tuition. Students must also file for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program or complete an application for legal immigration status. 

The policy provides important resources to students who are already valuable members of local communities, said Amy Agbayani, president of The Legal Clinic, which provides legal services for immigrants and migrants. Agbayani, who was working at UH in 2013 and advocated for the policy, estimated that a few hundred undocumented students, at most, stood to benefit at the time. 

"It's a drop in the bucket," she said. "It's not taking money away from anyone else."

Hawaiʻi has roughly 30,000 undocumented immigrants and 340 active DACA recipients, according to the American Immigration Council. To qualify for DACA, individuals must have arrived in the U.S. before age 16 and be enrolled in school, have earned a high school diploma or be honorably discharged from the military, among other requirements. 

House Higher Education Chair Andrew Garrett said it's important for the state to continue to make education accessible for all students, including immigrants who grow up in Hawaiʻi and attend local schools. 

"The students affected are not abstractions," he said in a text message on Thursday afternoon. "Their immigration status does not make them any less a part of our community."

Last year, lawmakers attempted to enshrine UH's policy into state law to better protect undocumented students' access to in-state tuition. The bill failed to pass, but it was important to ensure that DACA students are treated as Hawaiʻi's own, former Sen. Karl Rhoads said. 

These students don't have a choice when they come to the United States at a young age, Rhoads said, and shouldn't face the additional challenge of paying for out-of-state tuition. 

Agbayani said she hopes the state fights the lawsuit, adding that UH needs to attract more students and Hawaiʻi needs a well-educated workforce. If the state rescinded its policy on in-state tuition, she said, it would come at the cost of students who are already making valuable contributions to their communities. 

"It seems like such an unnecessary attack," she said. 

Reporter Jeremy Hay contributed to this report.