Justice Department Sues Pennsylvania State University Over In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens in Its 27th Such Lawsuit
Washington — The U.S. Department of Justice announced on November 5 that it has filed a lawsuit against the Pennsylvania State University, challenging the university's policy of granting in-state tuition to illegal aliens who reside in Pennsylvania while denying the same reduced tuition to U.S. citizens. The department said the policy unconstitutionally discriminates against U.S. citizens and conflicts with federal law. It is the department's 27th lawsuit challenging in-state tuition for illegal aliens.
In the complaint, the United States seeks to enjoin the Pennsylvania State University from enforcing its policy that provides undocumented students, including illegal aliens who reside in Pennsylvania, with in-state tuition rates, regardless of whether those students are lawfully present in the United States. The complaint also seeks to bar the university from enacting any new tuition policies that favor undocumented students over U.S. citizens.
"The Department of Justice today continues its efforts to ensure that no state law or university policy gives preferential treatment to illegal aliens over our Nation's own citizens," said Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward, Jr. "Congress long ago made clear that states, through their public universities, cannot give reduced tuition to illegal aliens not available to all Americans."
"Congress made a deliberate policy choice that states and their public institutions may not grant tuition benefits to illegal aliens unless those same benefits are made to all U.S. citizens," said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department's Civil Division. "This university has ignored that mandate. The Department will continue to challenge policies that unlawfully disadvantage American citizens."
The department said today's lawsuit brings its total to 27 lawsuits challenging in-state tuition for illegal aliens. Under Attorney General Todd Blanche, six similar lawsuits in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Illinois and Kansas have resulted in favorable orders permanently enjoining and declaring unconstitutional similar laws that gave reduced tuition to illegal aliens, including an order from the Fifth Circuit.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的美国司法部总部罗伯特·肯尼迪大楼。Coolcaesar 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington. Photo by Coolcaesar, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
