The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against the state of Virginia, seeking to block policies that allow undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition at public universities, including the University of Virginia.
According to court documents, the lawsuit was filed Monday in a federal court in Richmond. The US Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that it is challenging Virginia laws enacted in 2020 and 2021 that permit immigrant students without permanent legal status to access in-state tuition rates and certain forms of financial assistance.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi said the policies violate federal law by granting benefits to undocumented immigrants that are not equally available to US citizens. “This is a simple matter of federal law,” Bondi said in a statement. “Schools cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to US citizens. This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.”
In its complaint, the Justice Department argued that federal law expressly prohibits states from offering postsecondary education benefits to undocumented immigrants if those same benefits are denied to US citizens, particularly citizens from other states who must pay higher out-of-state tuition. The department described Virginia’s policies as discriminatory and unlawful, asserting that they unfairly favor undocumented students over American citizens.
“This is not only wrong but illegal,” the Justice Department wrote. “The challenged act’s discriminatory treatment in favor of illegal aliens over US citizens is squarely prohibited and preempted by federal law.”
The administration is asking the court to declare the challenged provisions unconstitutional and to block their enforcement. The legal challenge follows a series of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump during the early months of his second term, aimed at halting the use of taxpayer funds to provide public benefits to immigrants without legal status.
The lawsuit also cites the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which was designed to limit undocumented immigrants’ access to public benefits, including education-related assistance. Federal officials say the Virginia laws directly conflict with that statute.
The case adds to the broader national debate over immigration policy, higher education access, and the balance between state authority and federal immigration law, setting the stage for a closely watched legal battle with potential implications beyond Virginia.
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