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Trump admin: Virginia is discriminating against U.S. citizens who don’t get reduced tuition rates
Reversing a move by his predecessor, new Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones ended an agreement with the Trump administration Wednesday that prohibited students who are in the U.S. illegally to qualify for in-state tuition and financial aid at public colleges and universities.
Jones, a Democrat who took office last week, filed a motion that would keep Virginia fighting a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice over its in-state tuition law for illegal immigrants, WRIC Richmond reports.
“On day one, I promised Virginians I would fight back against the Trump Administration’s attacks on our Commonwealth, our institutions of higher education, and most importantly – our students,” Jones stated in a news release. “Virginians deserve leaders who will put them first, and that’s exactly what my office will continue to do.”
Jones’ change would end an agreement between former Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares and the DOJ, reached earlier in January.
Before leaving office, Miyares had agreed to resolve the lawsuit by “ask[ing] a federal judge to declare the Virginia Dream Act invalid and bar state authorities from enforcing it,” Inside Higher Ed reported Jan. 2.
Jones’ actions aim to reverse that.
“My office will immediately reverse course, withdraw my predecessor’s flawed and legally incorrect position, and fully defend Virginia’s in-state tuition law,” Jones stated in a Saturday news release.
The DOJ also is suing six other states with similar laws, including California and Illinois.
A Dec. 30 news release from the department announcing the Virginia lawsuit stated: “These laws unconstitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens who are not afforded the same reduced tuition rates, scholarships, or subsidies, create incentives for illegal immigration, and reward illegal immigrants with benefits that U.S. citizens are not eligible for, all in direct conflict with federal law.”
As of October, Virginia and 21 other states offered lower, in-state tuition prices to illegal immigrants but not to American citizens from out-of-state, according to an October report by The Fix. However, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kentucky recently ended these provisions, The Fix previously reported.
According to Axios, ending these laws could make a college education “inaccessible to the nation’s estimated 850,000 undocumented minors.”
MORE: Virginia agrees to end in-state tuition for illegal immigrants to resolve DOJ lawsuit
