Seventeen States Now Face DOJ Suits Over Immigrant Tuition
Via New Hampshire Bulletin
The Story
The U.S. Department of Justice has sued New York, Connecticut and Vermont over laws that let immigrants without permanent legal status pay in-state tuition at public colleges, bringing the number of states targeted to 17.
The lawsuits follow an executive order President Donald Trump signed in April 2025 directing the attorney general to block state policies seen as favoring noncitizens over American citizens.
Courts have already struck down tuition laws in Texas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Illinois, and every one of those states except Illinois sided with the federal government rather than defend its own statute.
At least 20 states and Washington, D.C. currently offer in-state rates to undocumented students, and roughly 525,000 such students are enrolled in American colleges and universities.
Advocates call the campaign unprecedented, noting the policies simply let students who attended and graduated from high school in a state pay the same rate as their classmates.
Cases remain pending in California, Colorado, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Virginia, leaving tuition equity across much of the country in the hands of federal judges.
The lawsuits follow an executive order President Donald Trump signed in April 2025 directing the attorney general to block state policies seen as favoring noncitizens over American citizens.
Courts have already struck down tuition laws in Texas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Illinois, and every one of those states except Illinois sided with the federal government rather than defend its own statute.
At least 20 states and Washington, D.C. currently offer in-state rates to undocumented students, and roughly 525,000 such students are enrolled in American colleges and universities.
Advocates call the campaign unprecedented, noting the policies simply let students who attended and graduated from high school in a state pay the same rate as their classmates.
Cases remain pending in California, Colorado, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Virginia, leaving tuition equity across much of the country in the hands of federal judges.
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