Overview
- The Justice Department filed complaints against New York, Connecticut and Vermont on Monday seeking injunctions to block laws and policies that let students who are not lawfully present pay in‑state tuition or receive state financial aid.
- DOJ lawyers say the cases rest on a 1996 federal statute, 8 U.S.C. §1623, and the Constitution’s supremacy clause, arguing states cannot give residency‑based postsecondary benefits to non‑lawfully present aliens unless U.S. citizens nationwide get the same benefits.
- The new filings bring the total number of DOJ suits on this issue to 17, and the department cites recent favorable rulings in Texas, Illinois and other states while noting mixed results elsewhere that make appeals likely.
- State officials pushed back, with Connecticut Attorney General William Tong saying the state will defend its laws that tie eligibility to local high‑school attendance and graduation rather than simple residency.
- If lower courts split on whether high‑school‑attendance rules count as residency, the disputes could produce circuit conflicts and prompt Supreme Court review, a development that would decide access for students raised and educated in those states.