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DOJ sued Maryland to block in-state tuition benefit for undocumented students, its 13th such suit against a state

On July 16, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Maryland in federal court to block the state's law granting in-state college tuition and financial aid to undocumented immigrant residents, arguing it unconstitutionally discriminates against U.S. citizens who are not offered the same reduced rates. The suit seeks a permanent injunction barring Maryland from administering the tuition benefit or related scholarship programs. Maryland is the 13th state DOJ has sued over similar in-state-tuition policies for undocumented residents.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Maryland

Abuses documented

Actors

The U.S. Department of Justice sued Maryland on July 16, 2026, seeking to strike down the state's Dream Act, which grants in-state college tuition and financial aid to undocumented immigrant residents who meet residency requirements. The complaint alleges the law unconstitutionally discriminates against U.S. citizens who are not offered the same reduced tuition rates or scholarships, and asks the court to enjoin Maryland from enforcing the tuition statute and regulation and from administering related financial aid and scholarship programs for undocumented residents. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said Maryland was "not only violating federal law but subsidizing education for illegal aliens, costing Maryland taxpayers roughly $9M for just one academic year," and Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Civil Division said the department "will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country."

The Maryland law requires that beneficiaries have lived in the state, graduated from a Maryland high school, paid state income taxes for at least two years, and applied for permanent resident status within 30 days of eligibility. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said his office was reviewing the complaint and would "respond through the courts, as we do whenever Maryland's laws are challenged." Maryland House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk called the suit "another example of the federal government asking the courts to override policy choices made by states through the democratic process." The suit is the Department's 13th challenging in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants nationwide; DOJ said four earlier suits, against Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Nebraska, had already resulted in orders permanently enjoining similar state laws, with additional suits pending in Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia, California, New Jersey, Kansas, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

Why we recorded this

States retain broad authority under the federal system to set their own higher-education and financial-aid policy for their residents. Here, the Justice Department used federal litigation to compel Maryland to end an in-state tuition benefit its legislature enacted for residents regardless of immigration status, part of a nationwide campaign that has now targeted 13 states over the same law. This archive records when the federal executive turns to litigation as a tool for overriding state policy choices on immigration-related benefits, rather than working through Congress to change the underlying federal standard.

Sources

  1. The Department of Justice Sues Maryland, Challenging its State Laws that Provide In-State Tuition to Illegal Aliens — U.S. Department of Justice primary accessed July 18, 2026
  2. Justice sues Maryland over in-state tuition policy for undocumented immigrants — Maryland Matters primary accessed July 18, 2026

See also