A federal court has sided with Minnesota in a legal battle over educational benefits for undocumented students, allowing the state’s public universities to maintain their policy of offering reduced tuition rates to certain immigrants without legal status.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez threw out the Justice Department’s case on Friday, finding that federal prosecutors could not demonstrate that Minnesota’s educational programs unfairly discriminate against American citizens.
The legal dispute emerged from tensions between federal immigration enforcement and state education policies. The DOJ had targeted Democratic Governor Tim Walz, state Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Minnesota’s Office of Higher Education in the lawsuit filed last summer.
Federal attorneys argued that Minnesota’s approach violates citizenship rights by extending in-state tuition and scholarship opportunities to students without legal immigration status who completed three years at Minnesota high schools, while U.S. citizens from other states pay higher out-of-state rates.
The Justice Department contended that these state policies “flagrantly” breach federal legislation prohibiting states from granting special advantages to undocumented immigrants, regardless of their local residency status.
“No state can be allowed to treat Americans like second-class citizens in their own country by offering financial benefits to illegal aliens,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi stated when the lawsuit was initially filed.
However, Judge Menendez determined that federal prosecutors misunderstood the Clinton-era law they cited, explaining that Minnesota’s three-year high school attendance requirement applies equally to all students, regardless of citizenship or immigration status.
The judge also ruled that federal authorities lacked proper legal grounds to sue the governor and attorney general, since neither official has authority to modify the state statutes governing tuition eligibility.
Attorney General Ellison praised Friday’s outcome in an official statement.
“Today, we defeated another one of Donald Trump’s efforts to misconstrue federal law to force Minnesota to abandon duly passed state laws and become a colder, less caring state,” Ellison declared.
He characterized the educational funding for undocumented students as an “investment for our state to do everything we can to encourage a more educated workforce.”
The Justice Department declined to provide comment when contacted Friday evening.
Similar federal challenges are currently underway in Kentucky and Texas. A Texas federal judge recently suspended that state’s comparable tuition program after Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton endorsed the federal legal action.
When discussing the Texas litigation previously, Attorney General Bondi indicated that additional states might face similar legal challenges.
Florida has already eliminated in-state tuition eligibility for undocumented immigrants. According to the National Immigration Law Center, approximately 22 states plus Washington D.C. maintain laws or policies extending in-state tuition benefits to these students, spanning both Democratic strongholds like California and New York, as well as Republican-leaning states including Kansas and Nebraska.
The organization reports that at least 14 states, Minnesota among them, go beyond tuition breaks to also provide financial aid and scholarship opportunities for undocumented students.
