FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 18, 2026)—Attorney General Russell Coleman filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to keep Kentucky taxpayer dollars from subsidizing college tuition for illegal aliens. The Sixth Circuit is one level below the U.S. Supreme Court.
Attorney General Coleman’s brief opposes attempts by liberal activists to overturn an order from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The federal trial court ruled an administrative regulation from the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants violated federal law.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the Kentucky educational body for its violation of federal immigration laws. Attorney General Coleman advised the Council that its administrative regulation was unlawful. He urged the Council not to spend taxpayer dollars on lengthy litigation, and the Council did just that when it agreed to an order declaring the regulation unlawful.
The Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution instructs that federal law is the highest law of the land. Federal immigration laws that have been on the books since 1996 make illegal immigrants ineligible for public benefits like in-state tuition at postsecondary schools.
“The law is clear: in-state tuition benefits funded by Kentucky taxpayers are intended for American citizens,” said Attorney General Coleman. “The lower court’s ruling brings Kentucky’s in-state tuition policies back in line with federal law. If liberal activists want to keep fighting the Trump Administration in court, they will continue losing.”
Read the brief here.