DOJ sued Hawaii, Arkansas, Utah, and DC to block in-state tuition for undocumented students, bringing its litigation campaign to 25 jurisdictions

On September 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice filed four separate lawsuits in federal court against Hawaii, Arkansas, Utah, and the District of Columbia, seeking to strike down each jurisdiction's law or regulation granting in-state college tuition and financial aid to undocumented students. The complaints argue the policies unconstitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens who are not offered the same reduced tuition rates or scholarships, in violation of a federal statute that bars states and the District from extending resident-tuition benefits to people not lawfully present unless the same benefit is available to citizens regardless of where they live. Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. said in a Justice Department statement, "No more placing illegal aliens over American citizens on this Department of Justice's watch. We have now sued every state across our Nation that has a state law or regulation granting illegal aliens in-state tuition." Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Civil Division added, "This is a simple matter of federal law: colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens."

The suits target Utah's 2002 law letting undocumented graduates of Utah high schools who have applied for lawful residency pay in-state tuition and receive state-based scholarships, and a University of Hawaii administrative rule and Board of Regents policy letting noncitizens establish residency for in-state tuition after twelve months' physical presence, along with comparable Arkansas and District of Columbia provisions. An Arkansas Attorney General's office spokesman told Courthouse News, "We agree with the U.S. Department of Justice that federal law preempts state law in this case, and that this state law should not be enforced." The Utah System of Higher Education said it would continue administering aid "in accordance with legislative direction."

The filings came one day after a federal judge in Kansas ruled that state's own in-state-tuition law for undocumented students preempted by federal law, and brought DOJ's campaign -- which began under a 2025 Trump executive order directing the Attorney General to identify and challenge policies favoring noncitizens over American citizens -- to 25 states and jurisdictions sued, following earlier suits already resulting in injunctions in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Illinois, and Kansas, and the department's August 27 suits against Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oregon.