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Toronto Star
14 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
A new immigrant detention partnership nicknamed after Indiana's iconic racetrack inspires backlash
Top Trump administration officials boast that a new state partnership to expand immigrant detention in Indiana will be the next so-called ' Alligator Alcatraz.' However, the agreement is already prompting backlash in the Midwest state, starting with its splashy 'Speedway Slammer' moniker.
Winnipeg Free Press
14 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
What to know as Trump's immigration crackdown strips tuition breaks from thousands of students
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Tens of thousands of U.S. college students without legal resident status are losing access to in-state tuition prices as part of President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration. The Justice Department has been suing states to end tuition breaks for students without legal residency, starting with Texas in June. It has also filed lawsuits in Kentucky, Minnesota and, most recently, Oklahoma. Last year, Florida ended its tuition break for students living there illegally, 'Federal law prohibits aliens not lawfully present in the United States from getting in-state tuition benefits that are denied to out-of-state U.S. citizens,' the Justice Department argued in a lawsuit this month in Oklahoma. 'There are no exceptions.' The tuition breaks once enjoyed wide bipartisan support but have increasingly come under criticism from Republicans in recent years. Here's what to know about the tuition breaks: Texas' program was blocked first Texas' tuition policy was initially passed with sweeping bipartisan majorities in the Legislature and signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, as a way to open access to higher education for students without legal residency already living in the state. Supporters then and now say it boosted the state's economy by creating a better-educated and better-prepared workforce. The law allowed students without legal resident status to qualify for in-state tuition if they had lived in Texas for three years before graduating from high school and for a year before enrolling in college. They also had to sign an affidavit promising to apply for legal resident status as soon as possible. Texas now has about 57,000 qualifying students enrolled in its public universities and colleges, according to the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a nonpartisan nonprofit group of university leaders focused on immigration policy. The state has about 690,000 students overall at its public universities. The difference in tuition rates is substantial. For example, at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, a 34,000-student campus along the border with Mexico, a state resident will pay about $10,000 in basic tuition for a minimum full-time class schedule in the upcoming school year. A nonresident student will pay $19,000. Political pushback and a swift end Texas' law stood mostly unchallenged for years, but it came under fire as debates over illegal immigration intensified. In the 2012 Republican presidential primary, Perry apologized after saying critics of the law 'did not have a heart.' The law withstood several repeal efforts in the Republican-dominated Legislature. During the legislative session that ended June 2, a repeal bill did not even get a vote. But the ax fell quickly. After the Trump administration filed a lawsuit calling the law unconstitutional, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, a key Trump ally, chose not to defend the law in court and instead filed a motion agreeing that it should not be enforced. In Oklahoma, Attorney General Gentner Drummond, also a Republican, filed a similar motion. 'Rewarding foreign nationals who are in our country illegally with lower tuition costs that are not made available to out-of-state American citizens is not only wrong — it is discriminatory and unlawful,' Drummond said in a statement. Campuses nationwide feel the impact At least 21 states and the University of Michigan system have laws or policies allowing tuition breaks for the immigrant students, according to the National Immigration Law Center, which favors them. Those states include Democratic-leaning ones such as California and New York, but also GOP-leaning ones such as Kansas and Nebraska. According to the center, at least 16 states allow the immigrant students to receive scholarships or other aid to go to college. Immigration lawyers and education advocates said they are assessing whether there are legal avenues to challenge the rulings.
Winnipeg Free Press
14 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
A new immigrant detention partnership nicknamed after Indiana's iconic racetrack inspires backlash
Top Trump administration officials boast that a new state partnership to expand immigrant detention in Indiana will be the next so-called ' Alligator Alcatraz.' However, the agreement is already prompting backlash in the Midwest state, starting with its splashy 'Speedway Slammer' moniker. Here's a closer look at the agreement, the pushback and Indiana's role in the Trump agenda to aggressively detain and deport people in the country illegally. More beds, not new construction Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem trumpeted the deal late Tuesday, saying Indiana would add 1,000 detention beds for immigrants facing deportation under a revived federal program. On social media, DHS also posted an altered image of a race car emblazoned with 'ICE,' short for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The IndyCar-style vehicle is shown rolling past a barbed-wire prison wall. 'If you are in America illegally, you could find yourself in Indiana's Speedway Slammer,' Noem said, likening it to the controversial facility built in the Florida Everglades. She added the new partnership will 'help remove the worst of the worst out of our country.' However, the Indiana deal doesn't involve construction. Federal funds will be used for space at the Miami Correctional Facility in Bunker Hill, roughly 75 miles (120.7 kilometers) north of Indianapolis. The prison's total capacity is 3,100 beds, of which 1,200 are not filled, according to Indiana Department of Correction spokeswoman Annie Goeller. Officials did not say when the detentions would start. 'Details about the partnership and how IDOC can best support those efforts are being determined,' Geoller said. The deal is part of the decades-old 287(g) program, which Trump has revived and expanded. It delegates immigration enforcement powers to state and local law enforcement agencies. Immigrants, attorneys and advocates have raised a number of concerns about the program, including a lack of oversight. The Florida detention facility has prompted lawsuits and complaints about poor conditions and violations of detainees' rights. Authorities have disputed the claims. Republican Gov. Mike Braun first announced the federal partnership on Friday. 'Indiana is not a safe haven for illegal immigration,' he said. 'Indiana will fully partner with federal immigration authorities as they enforce the most fundamental laws of our country.' Pushback to a borrowed name The outlandish name quickly drew backlash, notably from the town of Speedway, an Indianapolis suburb which is home to the iconic racetrack that hosts the Indianapolis 500. 'This designation was developed and released independently by the federal agency, without the Town's involvement or prior notice regarding the use of the name 'Speedway,' ' officials with the Indiana town of roughly 14,000 said in a statement. 'Our primary focus remains the well-being of our residents, businesses, and visitors.' IndyCar officials were also caught off guard. 'We were unaware of plans to incorporate our imagery as part of announcement,' IndyCar said, asking that its intellectual property 'not be utilized moving forward in relation to this matter.' The altered image used by DHS featured an IndyCar with the No. 5, the same number as the only Mexican driver in the series. 'I was just a little bit shocked at the coincidences of that and, you know, of what it means,' IndyCar driver Pato O'Ward said Wednesday. 'I don't think it made a lot of people proud, to say the least.' President Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan said Wednesday that he didn't name the facility. 'But I'll say this, the work of ICE, the men and women of ICE, are trying to do their job with integrity and honor,' he told reporters at the White House. 'I don't want these names to detract from that.' Indiana embraces immigration enforcement Leaders in the Trump administration have already singled out Indiana as key to their immigration agenda. Braun, a first-term governor and former U.S. senator, has been a strong Trump supporter. In January, Braun signed an executive order directing law enforcement agencies to 'fully cooperate' on immigration enforcement. The nation's newest immigration court opened in Indianapolis earlier this year as a way to address the backlog and divert cases from the busy courthouse in Chicago. Federal and state leaders are also working on plans to use a central Indiana military base, Camp Atterbury, to temporarily house detainees. 'Indiana is taking a comprehensive and collaborative approach to combating illegal immigration and will continue to lead the way among states,' Braun said in a statement Tuesday. ___ Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.
