A student walks near the entrance of the UCLA campus in Los Angeles in 2020. The Trump administration sued the state Thursday, claiming that its laws allowing in state college tuition for undocumented migrants are illegal. File photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
The Justice Department has sued California, challenging laws providing in-state tuition and other financial assistance to undocumented immigrants in the state.
The complaint also targets scholarships and subsidized loans for migrants, a DOJ release said. The lawsuit alleges that California’s laws are unconstitutional, illegal and discriminate against U.S. citizens who are not provided the same financial benefits, including reduced tuition. The complaint said the state’s laws reward undocumented immigrants with benefits, which conflicts with federal laws.
“California is illegally discriminating against American students and families by offering exclusive tuition benefits for non-citizens,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the statement. “This marks our third lawsuit against California in one week — we will continue bringing litigation against California until the state ceases its flagrant disregard for the law.”
The United States is seeking to stop California from enforcing laws that require the state’s colleges and universities to provide in-state tuition for the roughly 80,000 undocumented college students who live there, regardless of whether they are in the country legally. Most attend community colleges.
“Additionally, the complaint seeks to enjoin California from enforcing its so-called “California Dream Act” which affords scholarships and subsidized loans to illegal aliens,” the DOJ release said.
The suit targets California Assembly Bill 540, which received bipartisan support in 2001 and offers in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants who finished high school in the state.
It also offers in-state tuition to U.S. citizens who graduated from California high schools but left the state before enrolling in college.
The suit follows two executive orders signed by President Donald Trump designed to stop undocumented immigrants from receiving taxpayer benefits or other preferential treatment that help them pay for college, benefits not available to American students.
The lawsuit follows similar suits filed in Texas, Kentucky, Illinois, Oklahoma and Minnesota.
