Photo: Alamy
The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the state of Minnesota over its policy offering in-state college tuition and financial aid to illegal immigrants, arguing the program violates federal law and discriminates against U.S. citizens.
The lawsuit, announced Wednesday, targets Minnesota’s 2013 “Dream Act,” which permits undocumented students to apply for in-state tuition rates and access state-funded education benefits if they meet specific criteria, including graduation from a Minnesota high school.
The DOJ claims that the law contradicts federal statutes that prohibit postsecondary education benefits for individuals residing in the country illegally unless those same benefits are available to all U.S. citizens.
“No state can be allowed to treat Americans like second-class citizens in their own country by offering financial benefits to illegal aliens,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi in a press release.
“These laws blatantly conflict with federal law and thus are unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution,” she added.
The complaint names Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, the state’s Attorney General Keith Ellison and the Minnesota Office of Higher Education as defendants.
The Biden-era federal statute cited by the DOJ bars states from providing “postsecondary education benefits to aliens not lawfully present unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit.” The Department argues Minnesota’s tuition policies fail that test by providing benefits not extended to U.S. citizens from other states.
“These laws blatantly conflict with federal law and thus are unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution,” the Justice Department continued in its statement.
The lawsuit follows a recent legal victory in Texas, where a state court issued a permanent injunction against a similar in-state tuition program for undocumented immigrants. In that case, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton hailed the decision as a “major victory” and said ending the program eliminated “a discriminatory and un-American provision.”
The legal challenge stems from a March executive order signed by President Donald Trump, directing the Department of Justice to identify and challenge state and local policies that provide benefits to undocumented immigrants while denying them to certain groups of American citizens.