DOJ Sues New Jersey Over Pro-Immigrant College Tuition Laws

The Trump administration is suing the state of New Jersey, seeking to overturn state laws that financially help undocumented immigrants attend public colleges in the state.

The Department of Justice filed the lawsuit Thursday, which specifically targets two laws: One signed by former Gov. Chris Christie and one by former Gov. Phil Murphy.

The DOJ has filed similar lawsuits against other states — some of which have ended in favorable outcomes for the Trump administration — like in Texas, Kentucky and Oklahoma. Those lawsuits, however, also had state officials that supported rescinding the in-state tuition benefits.

Christie, a Republican, signed a bill into law in 2013 that allows some undocumented immigrants in the state to receive in-state tuition for public colleges. Murphy took it a step further in 2018, allowing immigrants to also receive state-funded financial assistance.

If the Trump administration gets its way, those benefits will go away entirely.

The DOJ argues that the state laws are unconstitutional since they provide benefits to undocumented immigrants not afforded to other U.S. citizens — in this case citizens from states that are not New Jersey.

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The benefits are not available for all undocumented immigrants seeking to attend a public college. To be eligible under state law, someone must have attended a New Jersey high school for three years, received a diploma and filed an affidavit saying they seek to legalize their immigrant status as soon as possible.

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