Travels back from Washington, DC prevented me from posting this yesterday.
In a decision today, the 14th Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas (IRCOT), giving them the ability to move forward to trial in their case against Lone Star College and Texas State Comptroller Susan Combs over grants of In-State Tuition and Taxpayer-supported Scholarships to illegal immigrants.
Here is the press release:
CONTACT: Maria Martinez
Tel. 713-503-8875
Email: Ircot2@yahoo.com SECOND CONTACT: David Rogers Tel. 512-923-6188
Email: DARogers@aol.com
-For Immediate Release-
APPEALS COURT RULES FAVORABLY GIVING IMMIGRATION REFORM COALITION OF TEXAS (IRCOT) GO-AHEAD IN ITS CASE AGAINST LONE STAR COLLEGE ON IN-STATE TUITION FOR NON-CITIZENS
Houston, Texas. In a decision today, the 14th Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas (IRCOT), giving them the ability to move forward to trial in their case against Lone Star College and Texas State Comptroller Susan Combs over grants of In-State Tuition and Taxpayer-supported Scholarships to illegal immigrants.
In its Majority Opinion, the Court states that:
IRCOT alleges in its pleadings, among other things, that appellants have in the past and will continue in the future to provide grants using Texas state funds, accumulated from taxes paid by IRCOT members, to illegal aliens in violation of federal statutes. IRCOT further alleges that sections of the LSCS policy manual that implement the grant programs violate, and thus are preempted by, federal law and that illegal aliens attending state-supported universities in Harris County, which includes LSCS in part, receive grants under the listed programs in violation of federal law. … [T]he allegations contained therein are sufficient to demonstrate that an actual controversy exists, that harm (in the form of alleged illegal expenditures of IRCOT’s members’ tax dollars) has occurred, is occurring, or is imminent, and that IRCOT’s claims as pleaded are ripe for adjudication.
…Finding no error in the trial court’s denial of appellant’s plea to the jurisdiction, we affirm the trial court’s order.
IRCOT Executive Director Maria Martinez states, “The Court’s ruling affirms our position that the State of Texas was in error in awarding benefits to non-U.S. citizens for which even U.S. citizens from bordering states, and members of the military are not eligible.”
IRCOT is represented in this suit by former Texas Supreme Court Justice Steven Wayne Smith