The Trump Administration has filed a lawsuit seeking to strike down a state regulation it claims unlawfully allows undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at Kentucky colleges and universities. The suit names the state education commissioner, the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education and Governor Andy Beshear as defendants. After the unveiling of an Underground Railroad statue in Lexington Thursday, Beshear responded.
“Well, it appears, at least in who they named, to be pretty political. This was a regulation that I think came through in 2001 when I was living in Virginia and and is issued not by the governor or a cabinet directly under him, but the Council for Postsecondary Education.”
A council spokeswoman confirmed the regulation predates the Beshear Administration by more than 20 years. She said it allows undocumented students with certain types of visas to receive in-state tuition after graduating from a Kentucky high school.
“So a governor has no review of it, but the state legislature does. And in fact, the state legislature had a bill on this topic that they didn't pass. So those trying to politicize it are just making things up.”
“I understand a similar suit against Texas did not name their governor.”
“That's true, and people should think about the why.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is a Republican and a staunch supporter of President Trump.
