American College Students Paid Out-of-State Rates While Illegal Aliens Got Discounts — AG Todd Blanche Just Said Enough

The Department of Justice filed suit Monday against New York, Connecticut, and Vermont — three blue states that have been quietly handing illegal aliens a benefit that out-of-state American citizens don’t receive: in-state tuition and financial aid at their public universities.

Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate put it plainly: “This is a simple matter of federal law: colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens. This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.”

The legal principle at stake is not complicated. Federal immigration law has long prohibited states from giving illegal aliens benefits that aren’t equally available to American citizens. States can’t simply declare someone a “resident” because they have a local address and use that declaration to unlock subsidized tuition — especially when an American student from a neighboring state would pay full out-of-state rates at those same institutions.