The Department of Justice, during the Trump administration, announced plans to file lawsuits against New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. The department asserts these states’ laws offer in-state tuition and other benefits to illegal immigrants, which they claim discriminates against U.S. citizens.
A statement from the department explained that these laws conflict with federal law by rewarding illegal immigrants with benefits not available to citizens. The legal complaints aim to stop laws that provide financial assistance or tuition rates to immigrants maintaining in-state residency, regardless of legal status.
This is a simple matter of federal law: colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens.
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate emphasized the Justice Department’s stance, stating that American students should not be treated as second-class citizens.
The Department of Justice expressed confidence in these lawsuits, highlighting previous legal successes in five other states with similar issues, including Texas and Illinois.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong criticized the lawsuit, asserting their state’s right to manage education independently:
Note to Trump — stay out of Connecticut. How we run our schools and teach our kids is none of your business, and you have no authority to force the sovereign state of Connecticut to deny our kids a future.
Tong defended Connecticut’s provision of in-state tuition and financial aid for eligible students. He had previously supported the bill in 2011 and remains committed to defending it now.
The Department has filed a total of 17 lawsuits targeting similar laws in various states, including Minnesota, New Jersey, and California. A recent federal ruling found Illinois’ tuition policies for illegal immigrants unconstitutional.
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