The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Illinois officials for providing in-state tuition benefits and financial aid to immigrant students without legal status who are attending the state’s public universities and community colleges.
Federal officials allege the practice violates federal law and discriminates against U.S. citizens living in other states, according to a complaint filed against the Illinois governor, attorney general and public university boards of trustees in the Southern District of Illinois.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April targeting state laws that allegedly favor undocumented residents over American citizens. It cited in-state tuition as a benefit that advantages students lacking legal status over out-of-state American citizens.
Illinois is the fourth state to be targeted by the Trump administration over long-standing state laws providing reduced tuition to students who reside in their states but lack legal immigration status. The Illinois General Assembly passed legislation in 2003 granting eligibility to undocumented students who have attended high school in the state for three years. The state also allows students who lack legal status to apply for state-funded scholarships.
More than 20 states provide in-state tuition to undocumented students, according to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal. Advocacy groups like the Presidents’ Alliance for Immigration and Higher Education argue that doing so is consistent with federal law and helps states maintain an educated and trained workforce.
Illinois is home to more than 500,000 immigrants without legal status, nearly 27,000 of whom are pursuing higher education. If they were to lose in-state financial aid benefits, those attending the state’s public colleges and universities could be forced to pay twice as much to pursue their degrees.
Texas and Oklahoma recently banned in-state tuition benefits for students lacking status amid challenges from the Justice Department. Those decisions have left colleges scrambling to comply.
Lisa Kurian Philip covers higher education for WBEZ, in partnership with Open Campus. Follow her on Twitter @LAPhilip.