DOJ sued Virginia over in-state tuition for undocumented students; outgoing AG Miyares joined DOJ to strike the law unopposed
On December 29, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Virginia in federal court to block the state's 2020-2021 laws granting in-state tuition and financial aid to undocumented students, arguing the policy unlawfully favors noncitizens over out-of-state U.S. citizens. The next day, outgoing Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares -- who had lost his re-election bid -- joined DOJ in a consent motion asking the court to declare the law invalid without mounting a defense, which incoming Democratic Attorney General Jay Jones called a "deliberate attempt to beat the clock" before he took office. The suit was the seventh in DOJ's litigation campaign against state in-state-tuition laws for undocumented students, following Texas, Kentucky, Illinois, Oklahoma, Minnesota, and California.