DOJ sues Minnesota for offering free and reduced tuition to illegal aliens

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Minnesota Wednesday for its laws that provide free and reduced tuition rates to illegal aliens.

The laws, a DOJ press release contends, unconstitutionally discriminate against out-of-state U.S. citizens, who are not afforded the same privileges at Minnesota’s public colleges and universities.

“No state can be allowed to treat Americans like second-class citizens in their own country by offering financial benefits to illegal aliens,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in announcing the lawsuit. “The Department of Justice just won on this exact issue in Texas, and we look forward to taking this fight to Minnesota in order to protect the rights of American citizens first.”

According to the lawsuit, federal law prohibits states from providing illegal aliens with any postsecondary education benefit that is denied to U.S. citizens.

“That prohibition is categorical, yet Minnesota is flagrantly violating it. This Court should put an end to this unequal treatment of Americans that is an unequivocal and ongoing violation of federal law … ,” says the lawsuit, which names Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and the Minnesota Office of Higher Education as defendants.

The lawsuit explains how a 2013 state law allows illegal aliens who establish residency in Minnesota to benefit from reduced, in-state tuition rates.

“The magnitude of this discrimination against U.S. citizens is substantial. The cost of tuition for resident students is significantly lower than for U.S. citizens that are not in-state residents,” it says.

Additionally, the DFL-controlled Minnesota Legislature established in 2023 a free tuition program for students whose families make less than $80,000 annually. Illegal aliens are eligible for the program.

The lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court to declare the laws unconstitutional and prohibit their enforcement.