Arizona Supreme Court rules Arizona colleges can’t give in-state tuition to DACA recipients

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday that recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program are not eligible to receive in-state tuition rates at Arizona colleges.

Justices on the Arizona Supreme Court agreed with the Arizona Court of Appeals ruling, which said Maricopa Community Colleges are not permitted under state and federal law to give DACA recipients in-state tuition, according to The Arizona Republic. 

According to the publication, more than 2,000 DACA recipients pay in-state rates at community colleges or state universities in Arizona.

{mosads}DACA recipients will have to pay a far greater amount for tuition to continue attending those schools after the ruling, according to the Republic.

President Trump announced last year he was ending the DACA program, setting a deadline of March 5 for Congress to pass a law giving permanent benefits to DACA recipients.

Despite consideration of several proposals, including a handful of bipartisan deals, Congress did not pass any legislation on the matter.

DACA recipients have remained protected because of a court injunction suspending Trump’s decision to end the program, but so-called Dreamers outside the program — other immigrants who arrived in the country as minors and live here without legal status — are subject to deportation.

Trump has repeatedly tweeted about DACA. Earlier this month, he put blame on the Democrats, saying “DACA is dead because the Democrats didn’t care or act, and now everyone wants to get onto the DACA bandwagon.”