The Department of Justice announced on Thursday that it filed a complaint against New Jersey laws for allowing illegal immigrants to receive in-state rates for college tuition as well as other financial assistance related to higher education. The DOJ contended that doing so “rewarded” illegal immigrants with financial benefits at the expense of U.S. citizens.
“These laws unconstitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens who are not afforded the same reduced tuition rates, scholarships, or subsidies, create incentives for illegal immigration, and reward illegal immigrants with benefits that U.S. citizens are not eligible for, all in direct conflict with federal law,” read a release issued by the Justice Department.
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The complaint was filed against the state of New Jersey along with other education-related enterprises and education officials in the Garden State, including the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund, the acting Secretary of Higher Education Margo Chaly, the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education, and the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, the Justice Department said. The complaint was filed to bring New Jersey and the aforementioned people and organizations to “bring them into compliance with federal requirements.”
“This is a simple matter of federal law: in New Jersey and nationwide, colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” said Brett A. Shumate, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.”
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward scoffed at the idea that New Jersey would prioritize financing college tuition for people in the country illegally rather than using those funds to assist U.S. citizens. He categorized such efforts as a denial of education opportunities.
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“Imagine being denied the opportunity of education in your own country,” said Woodward. “By granting illegal aliens in-state tuition, the state of New Jersey is doing just that.”
It is the ninth such complaint the DOJ has filed against different states in the country, citing the intention to “fulfill President Trump’s commitment to ensure that illegal aliens are not obtaining taxpayer benefits or preferential treatment.” Previous efforts in Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Texas have led to the “enjoining and declaring unconstitutional analogous laws that gave reduced tuition to illegal aliens.” Other similar lawsuits against California, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Virginia are still pending, according to the Justice Department.
