Kentucky wanted this fight: Former AG backs illegal immigrant tuition lawsuit as voter-approved

Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the GOP frontrunner for retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell’s seat in 2026, told Fox News Digital the Justice Department’s lawsuit over discounted tuition for illegal immigrants is exactly the kind of fight Kentuckians voted for.

Cameron lambasted Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, the top-named defendant in the suit, after Beshear’s office told Fox News Digital the potential 2028 hopeful had no connection to the issuance of the educational regulation.

“Andy Beshear is always attempting to pass the buck. The fact of the matter is, he’s the governor of the commonwealth and he controls the executive branch. He gets to appoint people on the various boards and commissions that exist,” Cameron said.

“He’s even got a lawsuit right now against statewide elected officeholders in the legislature, basically saying that he controls the Ethics Commission. And, so, you know, he can’t have his cake and eat it, too.”

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Cameron praised Attorney General Pam Bondi for bringing the case, saying he’s glad the DOJ is reviewing a “preposterous” policy.

“I think it’s well time that we take care of our American citizens as opposed to illegals,” Cameron said.

“I think our legislature, the Republican legislature, is rightly trying to take back some control,” Cameron added, as a bill moves through Frankfort that would preclude illegals from being considered in-state residents for educational purposes.

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“This governor tries to work by fiat, and our legislature is trying to restore the balance, if you will,” said Cameron, now CEO of the 1792 Exchange, a free-enterprise organization.

“This is about protecting the position of American citizens. I mean, the idea that we would give reduced or subsidized tuition, in-state tuition for illegals is just an absurd notion, especially when you’re telling out-of-state Americans that they’ve got to pay full freight. That doesn’t pass the smell test,” he said.

When reached for comment, Beshear political strategist Eric Hyers rejected those characterizations.

“We get Daniel Cameron is struggling with his attempted political comeback, but that doesn’t mean he can make things up,” Hyers said.

He added that the regulation allowing in-state tuition for illegals was crafted two decades ago and that “if he had a problem with its legality, he should have done something about it while he was attorney general.”

“The reality is that this is set by an independent board, and the governor doesn’t have any review of it; the GOP-controlled legislature does. If this was such a concern, the GOP supermajority could have passed the bill to address it that was introduced last session by one of their own members,” Hyers said.

In his interview, Cameron also warned the border security issue itself has greatly affected his state in other ways, citing the Appalachian fentanyl epidemic.

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“Kentuckians care deeply about making sure that we are protecting our borders and making sure people are here legally. … And we know that fentanyl is coming across a porous southern border and making its way into the commonwealth.

“Since President Trump has been in office, as he stated in his joint address to Congress, we didn’t need a new policy, we needed a new president. So, that has changed, but Kentuckians still recognize the concern around illegals who come into this country, bring poison into this country that hurt our communities or commit some sort of violent crime.

“President Trump is committed to helping the hardworking folks of this country. And this is just another facet of that.”

Cameron also noted he is leading the other major Republican, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky, in the race to replace McConnell.

However, Kentucky has been trending bluer in recent elections and has a similar electoral makeup to swing-state Pennsylvania, which has a Democratic governor and, until recently, a Republican majority legislature.

Beshear defeated Cameron in 2023 by about five points, while the incumbent, son of former Gov. Steve Beshear, squeezed out an upset against Republican Gov. Matt Bevin by a fraction of a point in 2019.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., defeated State Rep. Charles Booker, D-Louisville, by more than 20 points in 2022, while McConnell won a narrower race against retired Lt. Col. Amy McGrath in 2020.