In yet more big news for Americans who are sick and tired of seeing far-left states get away with violating federal law, often for the benefit of groups other than Americans, and gloat about it, the Attorney General Pam Bondi-led Department of Justice has followed up similar wins in Kentucky and Texas by going to legal war with Illinois over a policy that aids illegal aliens at the expense of Americans.
As background, the DOJ is working with DHS to engage in what amounts to a full-court press against the cities and states that have engaged in anything approaching sanctuary policies, whether outright refusals to work with federal immigration agents or other programs and policies that attract and aid illegal aliens.
Amongst those policies that have now been targeted repeatedly are state-level policies that grant in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens who are determined to be residents of the state and going to its public universities. Texas was targeted for having such a policy, as was Kentucky, and both states backed down once put on notice by the DOJ. The DOJ has discovered that the sanctuary state of Illinois has such a policy, and is now suing it.
Announcing the matter in a press release, the DOJ said, “The United States is challenging Illinois laws providing in-state tuition and scholarships for illegal aliens. These laws unconstitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens, who are not afforded the same reduced tuition rates or scholarships, in direct conflict with federal law.”
Continuing, the DOJ noted, “On Tuesday, Sept. 2, the Department of Justice filed a complaint in the Southern District of Illinois against the State of Illinois, Governor Pritzker, the State Attorney General, and the boards of trustees of state universities in Illinois seeking to enjoin the State from enforcing the Illinois laws and bring them into compliance with federal requirements.”
Building on that, the DOJ described what it wants to achieve with the suit, noting that right now the state is aiding illegal immigrants. It said, “In the complaint, the United States seeks to enjoin enforcement of Illinois laws that requires colleges and universities to provide in-state tuition rates for all aliens who maintain Illinois residency, regardless of whether those aliens are lawfully present in the United States.”
Adding to that, the DOJ noted that what Illinois is doing is illegal, implying that the blue state’s leaders could face criminal charges over the policy. It said, “Federal law prohibits institutions of higher education from providing benefits to aliens that are not offered to U.S. citizens. The Illinois laws blatantly conflict with federal law and are thus in conflict with the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.”
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AG Pam Bondi, commenting on the lawsuit and putting it in the context of other DOJ actions, said, “Under federal law, schools cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens. 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.”
Watch Pam Bondi comment on the legal campaign against sanctuary cities here: