The Department of Justice under the Trump administration announced Monday that it plans to file lawsuits against New York, Connecticut and Vermont over laws it claims provide in-state tuition and other financial incentives to illegal immigrants.
"These laws unconstitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens who are not afforded the same reduced tuition rates or scholarships, create incentives for illegal immigration, and reward illegal aliens with benefits that U.S. citizens are not eligible for, all in direct conflict with federal law," a statement from the department read.
According to the legal complaints, the Department of Justice is seeking to enjoin enforcement of laws that provide financial assistance to illegal immigrants or provide tuition rates to any immigrants "who maintain in-state residency, regardless of whether they are lawfully present."
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division stated, "This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country."
The Department of Justice expressed confidence in its lawsuits, citing legal wins in five other states with similar complaints. These states include Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Illinois, where favorable orders were issued permanently enjoining and declaring unconstitutional analogous laws that gave reduced tuition to illegal aliens.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong pushed back on the lawsuit against his state. "Note to Trump — stay out of Connecticut. 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," Tong said. "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. 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."
As of Monday, the Department of Justice had filed 17 lawsuits targeting laws that the Trump administration claimed provide reduced tuition for illegal immigrants. The other states sued included Minnesota, Virginia, California, New Jersey, Kansas, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Colorado.
Last month, a federal judge ruled that Illinois' in-state tuition policies, the RISE Act and the Illinois DREAM Act, were "unconstitutional and invalid." The department had originally sued Illinois in September 2025.