RUBEN GALLEGO incre Gsngress of the United States ° House of Representatives Washington, BE 20515—0307 March 3%, 2015 Honorable Mark Brnovich Attorney General, State of Arizona 1275 West Washington Street Phoenis, AZ 85007-2926 Dear Attorney General Brnovich: We write to express our sincere disappointment in your decision to continue involving the State of Arizona in a lawsuit against the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) regarding in-state tuition rates for beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. We urge you to drop this frivolous lawsuit that harms our students, communities, businesses, and our state, ‘To be clear, MCCCD is complying with state and federal law in allowing DACA beneficiaries to be considered for in-state tuition rates. In 2006, MCCCD began the poliey of accepting employment authorization documents (E.ADs) as evidence of lawful presence under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (TRIRA). Consistent with this practice, these community colleges announced in 2012 that they would aecept EADs issued to DACA beneficiaries as evidence to be considered for in-state tuition, Although Section 505 of IIRIRA bars states from providing post-secondary education benefits to individuals “not lawfully present,” the federal government has been clear that individuals granted protection under DACA are considered lawfully present individuals. In its FAQ updated in October 2014, USCIS explicitly notes that DACA beneficiaries are decmed to be lawfully present, In addition to proving lawful presence, DACA beneficiaries must also provide proof of state residency before being considered for in-state tuition. The hundreds of DACA students enrolled at Maricopa County community colleges have done so, demonstrating not only theie lawful presence but also their status as Arizona residents who grew up, participated in, and contributed to our communities. ‘Once again, Arizona finds itself unique among the fifty stares in its decision to pursue litigation against an institution of higher education for political purposes. While atta wundreds of Arizona. In ores the realy that allowing of students may be politi ally expe Jicat for your parry, ing for the si fact, not only does this lawsuit waste valuable taxps E young people to achieve their goals by attaining a higher education is good for our economy and businesses looking for talented young people to retain their competitive edge in the global state tuition to co they will marketplace. Denying se students doves act m enrolled and pay higher out-of-state to begin or complete their studistate resources to score political points at the expense of hardworking taxpayers, we urge you to drop this lawsuit and commit those resources t0 improving our schools and keeping our ‘communities safe. Sincerely, 2 (7) H f), Uo. ea / Lh Ruben Gallego 7 y Rail Grijalva Member of Congress Membet of Congress Ko. Ann Rirkpatrid Member of Congress