DOJ Sues R.I., Mass. Over In-State Tuition for Undocumented

The Department of Justice is challenging laws in Massachusetts and Rhode Island that allow undocumented students to pay in-state college tuition. They’re the latest DOJ lawsuits contesting similar bills in a total of 12 states.

Several Republican-led states quickly settled with the DOJ, agreeing to stop granting those students in-state tuition rates. But Democratic-led states have fought the Trump administration, and Minnesota succeeded in having the DOJ’s lawsuit dismissed earlier this year.

The Rhode Island and Massachusetts lawsuits also aim to stop the states from allowing undocumented students to access state aid and scholarships.

“This is a simple matter of federal law: colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division in the DOJ’s press release. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.”