The Justice Department filed four additional lawsuits on Thursday against Washington, D.C., and the states of Hawaii, Arkansas, and Utah, according to a September 11 report. The lawsuits challenge policies that offer in-state college tuition benefits to eligible noncitizens, a practice the Trump administration claims is illegal.
Federal lawyers alleged in the lawsuits that these policies unlawfully discriminate against American citizens by providing benefits to noncitizens that are unavailable to out-of-state Americans. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. stated that the department intends to deliver on President Trump's promise that illegal aliens will not receive benefits denied to American citizens.
The administration is seeking to enjoin the three states and Washington, D.C., from enforcing the challenged tuition policies, as well as any state policies providing financial assistance or scholarships to undocumented residents. The administration argues these laws violate a 1996 federal statute regarding in-state tuition eligibility.
In the lawsuit against Illinois, a judge ruled in favor of the Trump administration, though the state is contesting that ruling. Additionally, the Justice Department has received five consent judgments from Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Nebraska, and Kansas. Regarding the Arkansas litigation, a spokesman for the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office, Jeff LeMaster, told Courthouse News that the office agrees federal law preempts state law in this case and that the state law should not be enforced.
These new challenges bring the total number of lawsuits against Dream Act policies to 25. The legal action follows an April 2025 executive order from President Trump directing the attorney general to stop the enforcement of policies that favor noncitizens over American citizens.
