Justice Department sues Maryland over in-state tuition for undocumented students

Lawsuit is 13th challenge to state Dream Act laws nationwide

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Maryland over its Dream Act, arguing the state’s offer of in-state tuition to undocumented students violates federal immigration law and discriminates against U.S. citizens who live outside Maryland.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court, is the 13th such challenge brought by the Trump administration against state laws that allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates. The Justice Department has already secured permanent injunctions blocking similar laws in four states, the department said.

At the center of the legal fight is a 1996 federal statute that prohibits states from offering in-state tuition benefits to undocumented immigrants unless the same benefit is available to all U.S. citizens, regardless of their state of residence. The Justice Department argues that Maryland’s law violates this statute because it offers in-state rates to undocumented students who meet state-specific residency criteria while denying the same rates to U.S. citizens from other states who do not meet those criteria.

“By granting illegal aliens in-state tuition, Maryland is not only violating federal law, but subsidizing education for illegal aliens, costing Maryland taxpayers roughly $9M for just one academic year,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in a statement.

Maryland originally passed the Maryland DREAM Act in 2011 and has amended it twice since then. The law allows undocumented students who graduate from a Maryland high school, enroll in a public college or university within six years of graduation, and promise to apply for permanent residency within 30 days of becoming eligible to pay in-state tuition rates. Students must also show that they or a parent or guardian filed Maryland income-tax returns during the two years preceding the academic year for which they seek the benefit.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said his office is reviewing the complaint and will defend the law. “We will respond through the courts, as we do whenever Maryland’s laws are challenged, and we will keep fighting for the young people in our state and their futures,” Brown said in a statement.

The lawsuit stems from an executive order President Donald Trump signed in April 2025 directing the attorney general to identify and stop the enforcement of state laws that favor undocumented immigrants over U.S. citizens, according to the source. The Justice Department has since sued states whose Dream Act laws it says violate the 1996 federal statute.

Proponents of Dream Act laws argue that without them, higher education is effectively kept out of reach of undocumented immigrants living in the state. They also argue that offering in-state tuition produces residents with higher incomes, creating increased tax revenue.

The Trump administration has now challenged such laws in 13 states. In addition to the four states where courts have permanently enjoined the laws, the remaining lawsuits are still pending.