WASHINGTON-- Judicial Watch announced it filed a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court over a California Court of Appeals decision allowing the University of California's to provide of $27.1 million in taxpayer funds for non-resident tuition and financial aid to illegal aliens. The petition was filed on May 23, 2017, behalf of Earl De Vries, a legal resident and taxpayer of California (Earl De Vries vs. Regents of the University of California (No. BC555614))).
Judicial Watch argues that federal immigration law requires that a state law providing benefits to illegal aliens must "affirmatively" provide for such eligibility. In 2011 the California State Legislature passed and Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill giving illegal immigrant college students access to state-funded financial aid. Under the California Constitution, however, the UC Board of Regents is "entirely independent" of the state legislature in policy matters, so there is no lawful way for the California legislature to allow or require the University of California to provide the public benefits for illegal aliens. And, under the federal law, only state legislatures may provide any in-state tuition and public benefits for illegal aliens. Despite this, the UC Board of Regents began providing the benefits anyway.
