The Justice Department filed three lawsuits Monday against states that offer in-state tuition for illegal aliens, after securing victories in five similar cases.
“Congress long ago made clear that states cannot put illegal aliens over our nation’s own citizens,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in a statement first provided to the Daily Signal. “By granting illegal aliens in-state tuition, New York, Vermont, and Connecticut are doing just that. No more.”
“Our efforts will not cease until President [Donald] Trump’s promise is fulfilled: illegal aliens will not receive benefits denied to our nation’s own citizens,” he added.
The DOJ sued Connecticut, New York, and Vermont, alleging that the states violate federal law by requiring colleges and universities to extend discounted tuition rates to illegal aliens.
The lawsuits claim that the policies violate 8 U.S.C. § 1623(a), which states that “an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a state … for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit (in no less an amount, duration, and scope) without regard to whether the citizen or national is such a resident.”
The DOJ case against Vermont cites Senate Bill 191, Act No. 136, which extends eligibility for Vermont in-state tuition benefits, including grants and scholarships, to certain illegal aliens. Sections of the law explicitly bar the Board of Trustees of the Vermont State Colleges from adopting in-state tuition policies that would “discriminate against or exclude a person based solely on the person’s immigration status, or lack thereof.”
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The case against Connecticut cites five state laws, one dating back to 2011, which extend in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens. One of the laws, Connecticut General Statutes § 10a-19m, “makes illegal aliens who meet a threshold of residency in Connecticut and maintain that status for at least five years eligible for student loan reimbursement payments while denying U.S. citizens not residing in Connecticut that same benefit.”
Attorney General William Tong, D-Conn., shot back after the lawsuit Monday.
“Note to Trump—stay out of Connecticut,” he told the Daily Signal. “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.”
“I fought for this bill as a legislator when it passed in 2011, and I’ll fight to defend Connecticut families now from this cruel attack,” Tong added. “Connecticut offers in-state tuition and financial aid to all eligible Connecticut students because all kids deserve the opportunity to learn, to advance, and to achieve their dreams. Donald Trump doesn’t run UConn or any of our state colleges, and we’re not about to let him start.”
Monday’s actions come after the Justice Department secured favorable outcomes in similar cases against Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Illinois.
In June 2025, a federal judge enjoined Texas’ laws extending in-state tuition to illegal aliens, after the state’s Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton agreed with the U.S. Justice Department’s complaint. In August 2025, officials in Kentucky and Oklahoma agreed to end similar preferential treatment for illegals. Nebraska followed suit in April.
Unlike officials in those states, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, a Democrat, defended his state’s policies. Judge David W. Dugan of the Southern District of Illinois, however, ruled in July that the state’s policies violated federal law and granted an injunction blocking them.
“Illinois sought to incentivize illegal immigration on the taxpayer’s dime by treating illegal aliens better than U.S. citizens living in other states, in clear violation of federal law,” U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft said. “This ruling enforces the statute Congress wrote and stops the state from putting illegal aliens ahead of American citizens.”
No record shows Raoul appealing the decision to a higher court.
Including Monday’s actions, the Justice Department has sued 17 states over in-state tuition for illegal aliens. Lawsuits remain pending in Minnesota, Virginia, California, New Jersey, Kansas, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Colorado.
The Daily Signal reached out to the attorneys general for Connecticut, New York, and Vermont for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
“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 Shumate said in a statement on the Monday lawsuits. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.”
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