On March 9, 2016, the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR) and students within the University System of Georgia filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The plaintiffs sued the members of the Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia for denying in-state tuition to undocumented students who had received deferred immigration action under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. They argued that the students were lawful residents of Georgia and that, as such, the state had created an unconstitutional two-tiered residency classification system. Plaintiffs sought injunctive and monetary relief under 42 U.S.C. §1983, claiming violations of the Supremacy Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause.
The defendants motioned to dismiss the complaint on April 7, 2016. They argued GLAHR lacked standing; the plaintiff’s official capacity claims were barred by the Eleventh Amendment and not cognizable under 42 U.S.C. §1983; plaintiffs had failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; and that the defendants had qualified immunity. In response, the plaintiffs amended their complaint on April 21, 2016, adding both plaintiffs and defendants to the lawsuit and maintaining their original causes of action. They also filed a motion for preliminary injunction on May 3, 2016, seeking enjoinment of the University System’s classification system that had been classifying deferred action recipients as not lawfully present. The plaintiffs alleged that this system was irreparably harming the educational opportunities and career prospects of the deferred action students. The defendants moved to dismiss the amended complaint two days later. Judge William C. O’Kelley heard oral arguments about the motion to dismiss on August 25, 2016.
On February 10, 2017, defendants motioned to stay proceedings given a parallel proceeding in Dean Alford et al. v. Rigoberto Rivera Hernandez et al. In that case, plaintiffs brought suit in state court against the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, arguing their denial of in-state tuition to DACA recipients violated the Board of Regents’ own policies and state statutory law concerning residency status. As that case had moved to the Georgia Supreme Court, defendants argued proceedings in this case should be stayed pending the outcome of that case.
On February 16, 2017, Judge William C. O’Kelley granted defendant’s motion to stay proceedings and denied without prejudice the plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction and the defendants’ motion to dismiss. He argued both the parallel litigation in Dean Alford et al. v. Rigoberto Rivera Hernandez et al. and President Trump’s stated opposition to the DACA program justified the stay.
Following the stay, plaintiffs filed another motion for preliminary injunction on May 31, 2017. Defendants responded on opposition on June 13, 2017.
Since Judge O’Kelley’s decision, the Trump Administration has announced its decision to rescind the DACA program. As of October 5, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security is no longer accepting new applications or renewal requests. No further action in this case has been made since that decision, so it is unclear what the court will rule in regards to whether DACA recipients are eligible for in-state tuition before their residency status expires.
On March 28, 2018, the District Court stayed the issue pending a decision from the 11th Circuit in Estrada v. Becker. On March 6th, 2019, the 11th Circuit issued its decision. The decision, binding on this case, required the dismissal of plaintiff's claims, which were voluntarily withdrawn on March 26, 2019.
Bryce Freeman - 10/10/2017
Raul Noguera-McElroy - 04/19/2019
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