Two dozen states once offered the breaks, which often had bipartisan support
The Justice Department filed a complaint Thursday against Penn State challenging the university’s policy of offering in-state tuition rates to some immigrants in the country illegally. The filing is part of a series of lawsuits the Trump administration has brought over the tuition policies.
A Penn State spokesperson said the university was aware of the complaint and reviewing it. Penn State has 86,000 students.
The suit against Penn State comes as the nation looks for clues about how education and immigration policy might shift after a midterm election rout for Republicans.
The federal government argues that federal law prevents states from providing preferential benefits to immigrants in the U.S. illegally, regardless of whether they meet residency requirements.
“The Department of Justice today continues its efforts to ensure that no state law or university policy gives preferential treatment to illegal aliens over our Nation’s own citizens,” Stanley Woodward, a top Justice Department official, said in a news release.
Two dozen states once offered the tuition breaks, which often had bipartisan support. As the Trump administration began suing last year, the policies ended in places including Kentucky, Illinois, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Florida.
More recent challenges have focused on individual schools, including a lawsuit filed last month against the University of Delaware.
Supporters of the tuition breaks argue the policies do not violate federal law when they provide the same rates to U.S. citizens in the same circumstances — state residents who graduated from one of the state’s high schools.
Many of the students were brought to the United States by their parents when they were children, and supporters say they are as much a part of their communities as U.S. citizens.