Kansas Bill Ending In-State Tuition for Undocumented Vetoed

Kansas governor Laura Kelly, a Democrat, vetoed a bill that would have prevented undocumented students from paying in-state tuition at the state’s public institutions, The Kansas Reflector reported. The state has long allowed anyone who graduated from a Kansas high school—or attended a Kansas high school for at least three years—to receive in-state tuition regardless of immigration status.

The Legislature will vote Thursday whether to override the veto.

The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 22 to 18 and 78 to 46 in the House. Some Republicans in the State Legislature support the current model and advocated for the governor to veto the bill.

“I will be voting no on this for the sake of the DACA student who is in this nation by no choice of their own,” said Sen. TJ Rose, a Republican, when debating the bill on the Senate floor. “They are pursuing the American dream in no different way than you or me, and as a just and compassionate nation, I believe that it is important that we treat them well.”

State policies allowing undocumented students to receive in-state tuition are not uncommon, but several have been challenged by the Trump administration over the past year. Kansas’s laws haven’t faced a legal challenge yet, but state attorney general Kris Kobach alleged earlier this year that the policies are illegal.