The U.S. Department of Justice filed lawsuits against New York, Connecticut, and Vermont on Tuesday, challenging state laws that grant undocumented immigrants access to in-state tuition rates and financial aid at public colleges and universities. The filings target every state within the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that offers residency-based tuition benefits to noncitizens without lawful immigration status.
The three lawsuits push the federal government's total tally to 17 nationwide legal actions against state tuition equity laws, according to Tampa Free Press. Justice Department officials argue the state laws discriminate against U.S. citizens from other states who don't qualify for the same reduced tuition rates or financial assistance the challenged laws extend to undocumented residents. Federal filings ask courts to halt enforcement of state laws, regulations, and higher education policies that allow noncitizens without lawful status to access residency-based tuition.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said Congress prohibits states from placing undocumented immigrants over U.S. citizens, and that the department's efforts will continue until President Trump's promise on the issue is fulfilled, per the same report. Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate said colleges cannot provide benefits to undocumented immigrants that they do not provide to U.S. citizens. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has overseen similar actions in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Illinois.
The Legal Fight Over Two Conflicting 1996 Laws
The dispute centers on a clash between two provisions of federal immigration law passed in 1996. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1623, states are barred from providing postsecondary education benefits to undocumented immigrants based on state residence unless U.S. citizens are eligible for the same benefits regardless of where they live. But under 8 U.S.C. § 1621(d), states retain explicit authority to grant public benefits, including reduced tuition, to undocumented immigrants if state legislatures pass laws after August 22, 1996, affirmatively establishing that eligibility, according to a brief from the Presidents' Alliance.
New York's law traces back to the Senator José Peralta New York State DREAM Act, enacted in 2019, which grants eligible undocumented students who attended a state high school for at least two years access to state financial aid, including the Tuition Assistance Program and Excelsior Scholarship, per the NYC Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs. Connecticut's tuition policy, originally created in 2011, was expanded under House Bill 6844 in 2015 to let noncitizens who attended at least two years of high school in the state qualify for in-state tuition at public universities including UConn, according to the University of Connecticut. Vermont's law is the newest of the three: Governor Phil Scott signed Senate Bill S.191 in May 2024, extending in-state tuition and need-based financial aid to all state residents regardless of status starting July 1, 2025, as reported by BestColleges.
A National Campaign With Mounting Court Wins
The Justice Department's push into the Second Circuit follows a string of legal victories elsewhere. On July 25, U.S. District Judge David Dugan permanently enjoined Illinois laws that allowed undocumented students to receive in-state tuition and state financial aid, ruling the measures violated 8 U.S.C. § 1623, according to Higher Ed Dive. Hoodline previously reported on the department's lawsuit against Illinois and its challenge to Colorado's tuition law.
Before targeting New York, Connecticut, and Vermont, the department had already obtained federal court orders permanently blocking similar in-state tuition laws in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Nebraska, according to Inside Higher Ed. Federal lawsuits also remain pending over higher education benefits for noncitizens in Minnesota, Virginia, California, New Jersey, Kansas, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Colorado, per Tampa Free Press.
Tens of Thousands of Students Caught in the Balance
The stakes extend well beyond courtroom filings. An estimated 408,000 undocumented students were enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions as of 2026, with roughly 98,000 undocumented students graduating from American high schools each year, according to the National Immigration Law Center. As of June 2026, 20 states and the District of Columbia still maintained tuition equity laws or policies, even as Florida repealed its version in 2025 and Oklahoma followed in May 2026 amid political and legal pressure, the same group reports.
That split underscores how unsettled the legal landscape remains for public universities in states still defending their tuition equity laws. With the Second Circuit lawsuits now filed, colleges in New York, Connecticut, and Vermont face the same uncertainty that has already reshaped enrollment and financial aid policy in Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Nebraska. The outcome will determine whether tens of thousands of undocumented graduates in the Northeast retain access to the reduced tuition rates their states extended them.
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