Arizona Sues Community Colleges over DACA Tuition Policy

"Arizona filed a lawsuit Tuesday to block one of the nation's largest community college systems from providing reduced tuition to young immigrants granted deferred deportation by the Obama administration.  The lawsuit underscores Arizona's tough stance on illegal immigration and marks its latest legal challenge to the federal program that has allowed more than 365,000 immigrants nationwide to avoid deportation since it was unveiled by President Barack Obama a year ago.  Arizona officials argue that extending reduced tuition to those youths violates state law, which prohibits any immigrant without legal status from receiving public benefits.  Attorney General Tom Horne's office had been threatening to sue the school system over its tuition policy for months.  Officials from the school district had directed Horne in April to seek clarity from a judge on the state law to avoid conflicting interpretations.  They said the students are legal immigrants and should receive reduced tuition.  "We feel that it's too bad that he felt the need to do this and spend public funds, actually, it's double public funds since we are a public entity and so are they," said Tom Gariepy, the school district's spokesman.  "We still think that our policy will be upheld and that the judge will see things our way."" - Associated Press, June 26, 2013.