The Department of Justice filed lawsuits against New York, Connecticut, and Vermont on Monday, challenging state laws that grant illegal immigrants access to in-state college tuition rates and financial aid benefits unavailable to American citizens from other states.

Constitutional Violation Alleged

The federal lawsuits allege these three states unconstitutionally discriminate against American citizens by providing reduced tuition fees, scholarships, and other financial benefits to illegal immigrants while denying the same advantages to U.S. citizens residing in different states. Each state faces accusations of violating the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause by allowing illegal aliens to remain eligible for post-secondary education benefits not extended to citizens of other states.

Connecticut has maintained such policies for over a decade, while New York and Vermont implemented similar legislation several years ago. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward stated that Congress clearly prohibited states from prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens. He emphasized the administration’s commitment to ending practices where illegal immigrants receive benefits denied to the nation’s own citizens.

Nationwide Legal Campaign

These three lawsuits represent the latest phase in a broader enforcement effort. The Trump administration’s Department of Justice has now sued every state in the Second Circuit with comparable laws. Nationwide, at least 14 states face similar legal challenges, including New Jersey, Minnesota, and California. Five states—Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Illinois—have already been barred from providing reduced tuition rates to illegal immigrants.

In July, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling blocking Texas from offering illegal immigrants the in-state rate at public universities. Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the Civil Division declared that colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they withhold from American citizens, vowing the Justice Department will not tolerate American students receiving second-class treatment in their own country.

State Response Pending

Representatives for the governors of New York, Connecticut, and Vermont did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the federal lawsuits. The legal challenge strikes at policies these blue states have defended as providing educational access regardless of immigration status, setting up a constitutional showdown over state versus federal authority on immigration-related benefits.