The Department of Justice filed a complaint on Thursday against the University of Delaware, challenging the school's policy of offering in-state tuition rates to undocumented immigrants. Federal officials argue the Newark-based university grants reduced tuition to people living in the country illegally while denying that same break to some U.S. citizens who don't meet its residency rules.
According to justthenews.com, the DOJ's filing accuses the university of violating federal law by prioritizing undocumented students' needs over those of citizens. In a statement announcing the action, the Department of Justice said it is “challenging the University of Delaware’s policy which grants in-state tuition for illegal aliens while denying reduced tuition to U.S. citizens,” framing the lawsuit as an effort to stop the university from defying Congress's directives on the issue.
What the University's Residency Rules Actually Say
University of Delaware policy states that lower tuition is reserved for students who qualify as Delaware residents, with eligibility determined solely by the university under guidelines set by its Board of Trustees. To qualify, an applicant generally must show continuous Delaware residence for the 12 consecutive months immediately before enrolling, including maintaining a predominant physical presence in the state for at least 183 days during that period. Those residency standards are spelled out in the university's own policy documents, which do not address immigration status directly.
The DOJ's core legal argument rests on 8 U.S.C. § 1623, a federal statute that bars postsecondary institutions from granting benefits based on state residence to people who are not lawfully present in the country, unless U.S. citizens or nationals are equally eligible for the same benefit. That provision has become the DOJ's go-to tool in a string of similar cases filed against colleges and state governments over the past year, the same statute underpinning the agency's broader campaign.
Part of a Much Larger Federal Campaign
The University of Delaware case marks the 26th such action brought by the Trump administration's Justice Department against institutions offering in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants, per the same justthenews.com report. That tally includes lawsuits the DOJ filed against New York, Connecticut and Vermont over their in-state tuition policies, according to NOTUS. The department has also challenged Massachusetts and Rhode Island laws requiring colleges to extend in-state tuition rates to all state residents regardless of immigration status, per the Justice Department.
NOTUS reports that seventeen states have already faced legal challenges over laws granting undocumented immigrants access to financial assistance programs tied to higher education. Several of those states — Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Illinois — have since halted their tuition policies in the wake of prior litigation, the outlet notes.
DOJ Officials Defend the Legal Push
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. tied the Delaware complaint directly to that nationwide effort. “We have challenged every state law or university policy that gives preferential treatment to illegal aliens over our Nation’s own citizens,” Woodward said, according to justthenews.com. He added that the legal basis for the campaign traces back to existing federal statute, saying, “Congress long ago made clear that states cannot give reduced tuition to illegal aliens not available to all Americans.”
