For many American kids, college tuition is hard enough to swing already. The explosion of the educational bureaucracy and government meddling in financing have seen to that, but another factor is that some state governments have been rolling out the red carpet for students who aren't even in the country legally.
The Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) has now filed a lawsuit against three states, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont, accusing those states of illegally providing in-state tuition and financial aid for illegal aliens.
🚨The Department of Justice Files Complaints Against New York, Connecticut, and Vermont Challenging State Laws that Provide In-State Tuition to Illegal Aliens
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) August 10, 2026
“Congress long ago made clear that States cannot put illegal aliens over our Nation’s own citizens,” said @ASGWoodward.… pic.twitter.com/1V7p87w6HT
The DOJ post reads:
The Department of Justice Files Complaints Against New York, Connecticut, and Vermont Challenging State Laws that Provide In-State Tuition to Illegal Aliens
“Congress long ago made clear that States cannot put illegal aliens over our Nation’s own citizens,” said @ASGWoodward. “By granting illegal aliens in-state tuition, New York, Vermont, and Connecticut are doing just that. No more. As of today, we have now sued every state in the Second Circuit that seeks to thwart Congress’s clear prohibition by placing alien over citizen. And 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.”
Today’s lawsuits mark 17 lawsuits challenging in-state tuition for illegal aliens.
The DOJ has also issued an official press release, which states in part:
“This is a simple matter of federal law: colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.”
In the complaints, the United States seeks to enjoin enforcement of New York, Connecticut, and Vermont laws, regulations, and policies that require colleges and universities to provide in-state tuition rates for all aliens who maintain in-state residency, regardless of whether those aliens are lawfully present in the United States. Additionally, the complaints seek to enjoin New York, Connecticut, and Vermont from enforcing state laws, regulations, and policies that afford financial assistance and scholarships to illegal aliens.
All of these suits challenge the notion of in-state tuition and financial aid for students in the country illegally. Why is this an issue when education is and should be primarily a matter for the states to handle? Because immigration enforcement is, properly, a matter for the federal government, and this involves illegal aliens.
What's more, these feather-headed policies provide the illegal aliens with a powerful draw. They can enter the United States illegally and be awarded a huge break in tuition and financial aid, at the expense of the American taxpayers and American students from other states who pay out-of-state tuition at these same institutions. The states maintain these students are "residents" because they have local addresses, but the DOJ argues that state residency rules cannot override federal restrictions on providing these tuition benefits to illegal aliens.
And so, now, the Department of Justice is suing to remove this incentive. Good.
Editor’s Note: We voted for mass deportations, not mass amnesty. Help us continue to fight back against those trying to go against the will of the American people.
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