The Justice Department is expanding its legal campaign over in-state college tuition benefits for illegal aliens, adding four more states to the 17 it has already taken to court.
Federal attorneys filed new complaints Thursday against Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington, asking judges to stop the states from offering discounted tuition, scholarships, and financial aid to illegal aliens when those same benefits are unavailable to U.S. citizens from other states.
Each lawsuit rests on the same legal claim: federal law prohibits states from granting higher education benefits to illegal aliens based on residency unless all U.S. citizens, regardless of their home state, are offered equal access. The DOJ argues the four states have violated that requirement for years, with New Mexico accused of doing so for more than two decades.
Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. accused the states of giving illegal aliens preferential treatment over Americans.
“Over 30 years ago, Congress made clear that States cannot put illegal aliens before our Nation’s own citizens,” Woodward said. “By granting illegal aliens in-state tuition, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, and Arizona are pushing citizens to the side and ignoring federal law. No more.”
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Civil Division framed the issue as straightforward federal enforcement. “This is a simple matter of federal law: colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” Shumate said. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.”
The complaint against Arizona includes a detailed cost estimate. Citing an investigative report, the DOJ says at least 720 illegal aliens received in-state tuition rates during the fall 2025 semester, including 432 students at Arizona State University. Because resident and nonresident tuition at ASU differs by roughly $24,000, federal officials estimate the reduced tuition amounted to about $10.5 million at that university alone. The same report projected that more than 3,600 people a year could qualify in the future.
Washington’s policy is described as going even further. The state operates a loan program specifically for illegal aliens who satisfy its residency requirements, designed to mirror the federal loan access available to citizens. U.S. citizens from other states are not eligible to apply.
The campaign traces back to an executive order Trump signed in April 2025 telling the attorney general to shut down state laws favoring aliens over citizens. The DOJ has worked through the map since, suing Virginia in December.
Thursday’s filings bring the total to 21 states sued, coming weeks after the department went after New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. Five states have already seen their laws struck down, including Texas, Nebraska, and Illinois.
Not every case has gone the DOJ’s way. A federal judge in Minnesota threw out the department’s suit in March, ruling the federal statute does not override the state’s tuition rules.
The department’s posts drew a wave of replies backing the suits.
