Patriot Brief

• Department of Justice is suing Virginia over in-state tuition benefits for illegal immigrants.

• The DOJ argues the policy violates clear federal immigration law.

• The case could set a precedent for other states offering similar benefits.

This lawsuit cuts straight to a question most politicians prefer to dodge: why are Americans expected to subsidize benefits they themselves can’t access? According to the Justice Department, Virginia’s education code does exactly that — classifying illegal immigrants as state residents so they can receive deeply discounted in-state tuition, while U.S. citizens from other states pay tens of thousands more.

The law here isn’t murky. Federal statute explicitly bars states from granting postsecondary education benefits to illegal aliens unless those same benefits are available to all U.S. citizens regardless of residency. Virginia didn’t find a loophole. It ignored the rule. And for years, officials acted as if nobody would challenge it.

The numbers make the inequity impossible to defend. At the University of Virginia, the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition approaches $40,000 a year. That’s not a symbolic perk. That’s a massive financial advantage handed to people who are not lawfully present, while law-abiding Americans are told to pay more or take on debt.

What’s notable is that this isn’t an isolated enforcement action. The Trump administration has made clear it intends to unwind policies that quietly shift taxpayer resources toward illegal immigration under the guise of compassion or inclusion. Ending the Clinton-era carve-outs and challenging state tuition schemes fits that pattern.

This case isn’t about hostility. It’s about fairness and legality. If laws mean anything, states don’t get to rewrite them based on political preference. And if public benefits are going to exist at all, they should favor citizens — not undercut them.

From Daily Caller:

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit accusing Virginia of unlawfully granting illegal aliens in-state resident discounts on college tuition.

The state’s education code classifies illegal immigrants as Virginia residents, qualifying them for reduced in-state tuition costs, the lawsuit claims. This policy therefore allows illegals to access benefits not available to most other Americans, making it “not only wrong but illegal,” the DOJ stated.

“Federal law prohibits States from providing aliens who are not lawfully present in the United States with any postsecondary education benefit that is denied to U.S. citizens,” the court documents read. “There are no exceptions. Virginia violates it nonetheless. 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 classification means illegal immigrants are able to pay nearly $40,000 less than Americans who reside in another state. In the 2025-2026 school year, the University of Virginia (UVA) charged in-state students $23,897 in undergraduate tuition, while out-of-state students paid $62,923, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Students return to the University of Virginia for the fall semester on August 19, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Federal immigration law asserts that “an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State … for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit … without regard to whether the citizen or national is such a resident,” as cited in the lawsuit.

The Trump administration has sued several states already over similar laws giving benefits to illegals over American citizens. In June, Texas even teamed up with the DOJ to defeat its own law allowing illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition costs in the red state.

In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling on agencies to ensure “no taxpayer-funded benefits go to unqualified aliens.” The order included mention of preventing states from using taxpayer funds from subsidizing illegals and attempting to hinder deportation efforts.

The federal government in July ended a Clinton-era rule that allowed illegal immigrants to access taxpayer funds for technical and career schools, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported exclusively.

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Photo Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images