Some states offer in-state tuition to unauthorized immigrants. The Trump administration says that’s illegal
The Trump administration is suing the state of New Jersey to stop it from offering in-state college tuition rates and financial aid to undocumented students.
The suit is the administration’s ninth claiming states — including some run by Republicans — are illegally offering benefits to non-citizens that are not equally available to all citizens. The suit says New Jersey does not provide the tuition and financial aid benefits to American students who live in other states.
The benefits, the Department of Justice (DOJ) claimed in a complaint filed last week, encourage illegal immigration.
“These laws unconstitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens who are not afforded the same reduced tuition rates, scholarships, or subsidies, create incentives for illegal immigration, and reward illegal immigrants with benefits that U.S. citizens are not eligible for, all in direct conflict with federal law,” the DOJ said a press release.
Its goal, the DOJ said, is to ensure that “illegal aliens are not obtaining taxpayer benefits or preferential treatment.”
What New Jersey allows
In 2018, New Jersey became the 10th state to offer financial aid to so-called “Dreamers” — immigrants without legal authorization who were brought to the United States as young children. Most are granted protected immigration status through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
New Jersey offers in-state tuition rates to undocumented students who attended high school in the state for at least three years and meet other requirements, including that they promise to seek legal status as soon as they’re eligible.
It’s a valuable benefit. New Jersey residents pay $17,800 a year in tuition at Rutgers University, for instance, while out-of-state students pay more than $32,000.
According to NJ.com, 749 undocumented students and Dreamers were awarded $3.8 million in state financial aid in the program’s first year.
Meanwhile, immigration-related policies are being debated in courts across the nation. The legality of Dreamers’ immigration status is currently under review by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of an executive order by President Donald Trump that wiped out so-called birthright citizenship, under which anyone born to non-citizen parents in the United States becomes an American citizen. Trump says babies born in the U.S. to foreign parents without proper documentation should not be granted citizenship, arguing they are not covered by the citizenship clause of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
The DOJ’s lawsuit
In its complaint, the DOJ alleges that New Jersey, its Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, its Educational Opportunity Fund and other state agencies and officials have been breaking federal law for years by offering these tuition benefits.
The DOJ referred Straight Arrow News to its press release for comment.
The Educational Opportunity Fund did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for the New Jersey attorney general’s office described the lawsuit as a distraction.
“We look forward to responding in court, and to returning the focus to ensuring public safety and all the other critical work of our office,” the spokesperson, Michael Symons, told NJ.com.
The DOJ argues that states offering this kind of tuition assistance create disadvantages for American students living outside of the state.
“Congress made a legislative judgment that illegal aliens in our Nation cannot receive resident tuition benefits that are denied to U.S. citizens residing in other states,” the complaint states. “There are no exceptions. Yet New Jersey has ignored this legislative command for over a decade.”
The DOJ prevailed in its lawsuits against Texas, Kentucky and Oklahoma, while similar lawsuits are pending in Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia, Nebraska and California.
Round out your reading
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
