Department of Justice sues Virginia over in-state tuition, financial aid for illegal immigrants

The Department of Justice is challenging a Virginia law that grants in-state tuition and financial aid to illegal immigrants in the commonwealth.

Federal prosecutors say the law, which allows anyone who has lived in Virginia for at least a year to receive the aid and in-state tuition regardless of immigration status, unfairly prioritizes migrants over Americans.

“This is a simple matter of federal law: in Virginia and nationwide, schools cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday in a statement. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.”

The filing accuses Virginia’s statute of violating federal immigration law, which bars states from giving illegal immigrants certain higher education benefits at the expense of citizens.

“There are no exceptions. Virginia violates it nonetheless,” the Justice Department wrote in its 13-page lawsuit. “This court should put an end to this and permanently enjoin the enforcement of provisions of the Virginia Education Code that directly conflict with federal immigration law.”

The lawsuit piggybacks on President Trump’s executive orders, aiming to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving taxpayer benefits or preferential treatment. Similar legal action has been taken in California, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Texas.

“These laws unconstitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens, who are not afforded the same reduced tuition rates or scholarships, in direct conflict with federal law,” the Justice Department said in a September statement.

The National Immigration Law Center stated that 14 states offer tuition aid to students who meet specific prerequisites, even if they are in the country illegally.

The Virginia law was signed in 2020 by then-Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat.

Mr. Northam told WTOP at the time that illegal immigrant students are “Virginians in every sense of the word, except for their immigration status.”

The DOJ’s lawsuit comes as Virginia prepares to have Democrats take over its top three offices. Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger, Lt. Gov.-elect Ghazala Hashmi and Attorney General-elect Jay Jones will be sworn in on Jan. 17.