NY immigrants fear Trump’s attack on college tuition will force them to drop out

President Trump’s attack on New York’s in-state tuition and financial aid for undocumented immigrants has migrant college students worried they will be forced to quit school — along with their dreams of getting a degree.

On Monday, President Trump’s Justice Department sued New York and two other states, Connecticut and Vermont, alleging their in-state tuition policies for undocumented immigrants at public colleges and universities discriminate against United States citizens from out-of-state, who have to pay full tuition.

Undocumented immigrants who live in New York and get reduced in-state tuition at SUNY and CUNY schools feel the lawsuit will end their college careers.

“Taking (the reduced tuition) away would just mean taking the dreams away of many young people,” said Jocelyn, 22, a third-year student at CUNY who immigrated as a young child from Mexico. “Dreams will be taken away.”

Jocelyn is the first person in her family to go to college. She spoke on the condition that only her first name be used.

“(New York law) allowed me to go to college basically tuition-free for my first couple of years,” added Jocelyn, who’s in a youth program through Make the Road New York, an immigrant advocacy group. “It was a big relief off my shoulders and my parents’ shoulders that we didn’t really have to worry about it. That I was just focused on my studies, and not really having to work extra hours in order to make ends meet.”

Jocelyn has long known she wants to help vulnerable people, and after a personal experience with her family, she aspires to work in healthcare. This fall, she’s starting her first year of a medical imaging program at CUNY’s LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City.

Jocelyn was determined not to let the long commute between Staten Island, where she lives, and Queens get in the way of her dreams. But she fears the lawsuit, and the threat it poses to her ability to afford college, could throw a wrench in her plans.

“It would just be tougher for me to either focus on working and not focusing on my career. Or having to go from full-time to part-time. Or dropping out,” Jocelyn said. “College isn’t accessible for everybody. And in this case, it wouldn’t be accessible for me anymore.”

SUNY charges $7,070 in annual tuition for in-state students and $17,730 for out-of-state. At CUNY, tuition costs $6,930 in-state each year and $18,600 out-of-state. Tuition is lower at community colleges, including the CUNY campus where Jocelyn is registered.

To qualify for reduced tuition, undocumented students must have attended a local high school for at least two years and applied to SUNY or CUNY within five years of graduation.

Dulce, a freshman from Queens and, like Jocelyn, also a first-generation college student, has dreams of becoming a lawyer.

“My goal after college is to go to law school and practice criminal law, and to use my education to contribute to this country,” Dulce said in an emailed statement through Make The Road.

“We cannot return to a time where there was no opportunity of advancement for immigrant students, when we were forced to work jobs for low pay and in poor conditions. We have worked too hard to return to this.”

With the newest legal challenges, the Trump administration has now amassed lawsuits against 17 states against in-state tuition.

Some Republican-led states have settled with the federal government and ended the tuition policies. In Illinois, a federal judge sided with the presidential administration and found their law unconstitutional. Meanwhile, another federal judge in Minnesota dismissed the complaint; the federal government is appealing that case.

“Our efforts will not cease until President Trump’s promise is fulfilled: illegal aliens will not receive benefits denied to our Nation’s own citizens,” Stanley Woodward, the U.S. associate attorney general, said in a statement.

New York Gov. Hochul’s office maintained the state’s law is similar to that of Minnesota and will survive the legal challenge.

“Our office is confident that New York’s statute is lawful and will be upheld, and we are weighing all options to prevent potential consequences for our students,” said Emma Wallner, a spokeswoman for the governor. “In the meantime, the Trump administration should stop trying to strip New York students of their access to higher education.”

A spokesperson for CUNY reiterated the school’s support for “everyone in our community regardless of immigration status.”