US sues Democrat state for 'handing illegal migrants benefits over American citizens'

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is suing a Democrat-run state for allegedly dishing out "benefits" to illegal migrants over American citizens.

The lawsuit names the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, the state Department of Higher Education and director JB Holston as defendants.

It alleges that Colorado, governed by Democrat Jared Polis, has ignored a Congressional ban on handing financial benefits to illegal migrants for over a decade.

In 2013, Colorado passed the Advancing Students for a Stronger Tomorrow (Asset) Act, which allows eligible illegal migrant students to receive in-state tuition and financial aid.

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To broaden access to those benefits, Colorado reduced the high school attendance requirement from three years to one.

It also removed a requirement that students must be admitted to college within 12 months of leaving high school, the complaint alleges.

The lawsuit reads: "Colorado law rewards an illegal alien with eligibility for in-state tuition, based on residency within Colorado, while explicitly denying eligibility for resident tuition rates to U.S. citizens who are not Colorado residents."

At the University of Colorado Boulder, ranked 49th in the US, a Colorado resident - including illegal migrants - pays approximately $35,456 (£26,628), while a student not in-state pays approximately $66,500 (£49,943).

The Justice Department has alleged lowering tuition incentivises illegal migration into America.

The lawsuit is the 14th launched by Donald Trump's White House against in-state tuition for illegal migrants.

"For three decades Congress has made clear that states cannot provide education benefits to illegal aliens unless those same benefits are available to all American citizens," said Associate Attorney General Stanley E Woodward Jr.

"By granting illegal aliens in-state tuition, Colorado is violating federal law and subsidising education for illegal aliens at the taxpayers' expense.

"This Department will not cease until President Trump’s promise is fulfilled: illegal aliens will not receive benefits denied to our nation’s own citizens."

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"This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country," Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department's Civil Division added.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare several Colorado state laws associated with the matter unconstitutional and to award court fees.

In April, illegal migrants in Nebraska became ineligible for in-state tuition after the DoJ sued the state.

The state, governed by Republican Jim Pillen, scrapped the law just hours after the suit was filed, but Colorado, governed by Democrat Jared Polis, is less likely to do so.

The DoJ said in a statement that similar lawsuits in Republican-run Texas, Kentucky and Oklahoma had resulted in "favourable orders".

Similar lawsuits are currently pending in Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia, California, New Jersey, Kansas, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maryland - all governed by Democrats.

Denver, the capital of Colorado, received over 15,700 illegal migrants by bus in 2024, ordered by Texas's Republican Governor Greg Abbott.

GB News has approached the Colorado Department of Higher Education for comment.

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