Politics
Feds File Lawsuit Targeting Illinois Law That Provides Financial Aid to Undocumented Students
The U.S. Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C., is pictured in a file photo. (The Bold Bureau / iStock)
Federal authorities are challenging an Illinois state law that guarantees financial aid to undocumented students, claiming that doing so treats other residents as “second-class citizens.”
The Department of Justice on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Gov. JB Pritzker, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the state itself arguing that by providing in-state tuition and scholarships to undocumented students, they are unconstitutionally discriminating against U.S. citizens.
“Under federal law, schools cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “This Department of Justice has already filed multiple lawsuits to prevent U.S. students from being treated like second-class citizens — Illinois now joins the list of states where we are relentlessly fighting to vindicate federal law.”
A spokesperson for Raoul's office said they are reviewing the case and declined further comment. A spokesperson for the governor did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Pritzker last month signed into law House Bill 460, which amends the state’s existing Retention of Illinois Students and Equity, or RISE, Act to grant access to state-funded scholarships, grants and stipends to undocumented immigrants, who aren’t eligible for federal aid, beginning next year.
In doing so, the Justice Department claims Illinois is “flagrantly violating” federal law.
“This policy treats illegal aliens better than U.S. citizens living in other states and incentivizes even more illegal immigration, all on the taxpayer’s dime,” U.S. Attorney Steven Weinhoeft, of the Southern District of Illinois, where the lawsuit was filed, said in a statement. “Illinois citizens deserve better.”
Pritzker — a possible Democratic presidential candidate in 2028 — has repeatedly sparred with federal authorities in recent weeks as President Donald Trump has threatened to send the National Guard and a strike team of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into Chicago.
While Trump has claimed he would do so in order to tackle violent crime, Pritzker claimed the president is seeking to “use the U.S. military to occupy a U.S. city, punish his dissidents and score political points.” A federal judge in California on Tuesday ruled the Trump administration violated federal law through a similar deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles.
The Trump administration previously sought to invalidate Illinois, Chicago and Cook County laws designed to protect undocumented immigrants by prohibiting state and local law enforcement officials from helping federal agents.
A federal judge tossed out that lawsuit in July. Last week a separate judge blocked the Trump administration from yanking funding from Chicago and 33 other cities and counties because they have laws designed to protect undocumented immigrants.
Heather Cherone contributed to this report.
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