Justice Department sues Minnesota over tuition benefits for students without legal status

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U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on June 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. The committee met to hear (Getty Images)

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Minnesota for allowing students without legal residency to use in-state tuition benefits.

The lawsuit follows a similar legal effort in Texas.

Lawsuit filed

What we know:

The lawsuit filed Wednesday names Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, alleging the state violates federal law by allowing students living illegally in the United States access to in-state tuition benefits.

The lawsuit cites a law put into effect under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act that was signed into law during the Clinton administration. The law reads: "an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State (or a political subdivision) for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit (in no less an amount, duration, and scope) without regard to whether the citizen or national is such a resident."

Minnesota's Dream Act allows students without legal status access to in-state tuition if they graduated from a Minnesota school and attended school in Minnesota for at least three years.

What's next:

The state will have 21 days to respond to the lawsuit after being served. It's expected Minnesota will fight the lawsuit.

Texas law blocked

The backstory:

According to the National Immigration Law Center, at least 25 states, including Minnesota, allow students without legal residency access to in-state tuition.

The Justice Department says the Minnesota lawsuit follows a successful lawsuit against Texas. Earlier this month, a federal judge blocked the Texas Dream Act, which allowed students without legal residency access to in-state tuition at state schools. It should be noted, Texas officials opted not to fight the federal lawsuit, supporting an injunction issued by the judge.

The other side:

However, despite the Texas decision, the National Immigration Law Center says the federal law does not prohibit states from allowing in-state tuition for students without legal residency.

The law center points to the clause at the end of the law: "….unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit."

The law center says this clearly means that states can offer college benefits to students without legal residency – as long as citizens have access to the same benefit. The law only precludes states from offering a benefit to an immigrant student that isn't available to citizens.

However, the Justice Department lawsuit argues that Minnesota's law violates federal law because citizens who aren't Minnesota residents don't have access to the benefit.