Illinois can’t give cheaper college tuition to illegal aliens, judge rules
A federal judge has determined that Illinois may not offer reduced in-state college tuition rates or special educational grants to illegal immigrants at the state’s public colleges and universities.
On July 24, U.S. District Judge David W. Dugan held that Democratic lawmakers and Governor JB Pritzker violated federal law and the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution when they passed measures specifically intended to let illegal immigrants pay the same tuition normally available only to U.S. citizens and legal residents living in Illinois.
The laws in question—the RISE Act and the Illinois DREAM Act—improperly extended state educational benefits to illegal immigrants that are not available to U.S. citizens residing outside Illinois. In the decision, Judge Dugan stated that U.S. citizens or nationals must not be treated worse than illegal aliens.
Steven Weinhoeft, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, welcomed the outcome. He noted that Illinois had tried to encourage illegal immigration at taxpayer expense by giving preferential treatment to illegal aliens over American citizens from other states, in clear violation of the statute enacted by Congress.
The ruling enforces that federal statute and prevents the state from placing illegal aliens ahead of U.S. citizens.
Observers described the decision as a significant victory for the Trump administration in its broader effort to challenge so-called “sanctuary” or “welcoming” policies in Illinois and elsewhere.
There were other recent Illinois spending decisions, including the addition of $11 billion to the state’s unfunded pension liabilities, an allocation of $500,000 to a college that does not exist, support for a city-owned grocery store in a declining-population town, higher spending on poorly performing colleges than on apprenticeships and workforce training, and past instances in which thousands of school-issued laptops were diverted overseas.
