The Department of Justice sued Connecticut, New York and Vermont on Aug. 10, claiming the states violate federal law by offering in-state tuition and financial assistance to illegal immigrants.
Federal Statutes Prohibit Discriminatory Tuition
The DOJ cites the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which forbid states from granting in-state tuition unless the same benefit is available to all U.S. citizens.
“Congress long ago made clear that states cannot put illegal aliens over our nation’s own citizens,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in an Aug. 10 statement. “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.”
Litigation Track Record
The DOJ has filed 17 lawsuits targeting in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, winning cases in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Illinois.
Litigation remains pending in Minnesota, Virginia, California, New Jersey, Kansas, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland and Colorado, Woodward added.
Tuition Disparities Highlight the Issue
Connecticut public colleges charge $6,998 per year for in-state residents versus $20,938 for out-of-state students, while community colleges assess $192 per credit hour for residents and $578 for non‑residents, according to the federal complaint.
State law grants in-state rates to students who graduate from a Connecticut high school or complete at least two years of high school in the state, and the lawsuit alleges that several financial aid programs have awarded money to low‑income illegal immigrants.
DOJ Officials Vow to Enforce the Law
“Colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second‑class citizens in their own country.”
National Context
Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina bar public colleges from admitting illegal immigrants, while other states—both blue and red—permit the tuition benefit for students who entered the country before age 16 and have attended school continuously.
About 62 percent of the nation’s foreign‑born population lives in states with tuition‑equity laws, according to a 2025 report from the National Immigration Law Center.
The report also estimates more than 1 million illegal immigrants are enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities, both public and private.
