Yesterday the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and the Minnesota Office of Higher Education to challenge the legality of 2013 state statute granting illegal aliens the benefit of in-state or “resident” tuition at the state’s colleges and universities — the so-called Minnesota Dream Act. The state statute is codified at Minn. Stat. § 135A.043. The state’s Office of Higher Education has posted a fact sheet explaining the mechanics of the law.
The University of Minnesota follows the Minnesota Dream Act. For the 2025-2026 school year, in-state tuition at the university runs $18,094. Non-resident tuition will set you back $40,556.
Yesterday the Trump Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in federal court here seeking to strike down the Minnesota statute as conflicting with federal law. The Department of Justice press release announced the lawsuit (link in original):
[T]he United States is challenging laws in Minnesota that provide reduced in-state tuition — and in some cases, free tuition — for illegal aliens. These laws unconstitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens, who are not afforded the same privileges, in direct conflict with federal law. The Department of Justice has filed the complaint in the District of Minnesota. This challenge builds upon a recently successful lawsuit against the state of Texas on a similar law.
“No state can be allowed to treat Americans like second-class citizens in their own country by offering financial benefits to illegal aliens,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “The Department of Justice just won on this exact issue in Texas, and we look forward to taking this fight to Minnesota in order to protect the rights of American citizens first.”
In the complaint, the United States seeks to enjoin enforcement of Minnesota laws that require public colleges and universities to provide in-state tuition rates (and free tuition under certain circumstances, including if they meet a certain income threshold) for illegal aliens who maintain state residency, regardless of whether those aliens are lawfully present in the United States. Federal law prohibits institutions of higher education from providing postsecondary education benefits to aliens that are not offered to U.S. citizens. These laws blatantly conflict with federal law and thus are unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The press release concludes with a look back at two executive orders:
This lawsuit follows two executive orders recently signed by President Trump that seek to ensure illegal aliens are not obtaining taxpayer benefits or preferential treatment.
The key to the lawsuit is 8 U.S.C. § 1623(a) (passed in 1996, effective July 1, 1998): “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 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.”
The lawsuit also challenges Minn. Stat. § 136A.1465, a follow-up to the Minnesota Dream Act adopted by the “let’s go crazy” session of the state legislature in 2023 (effective July 1, 2024) and signed by Walz. In the words of paragraph 33 of the complaint: “This law created the North Star Promise Program, a state-funded financial aid program administered by the [Office of Higher Education] that awards free tuition and fees in the form of a scholarship to eligible students who attend Minnesota’s public postsecondary institutions beginning in the fall term of the 2024-2025 academic year.”
Tim Walz isn’t talking to me. Keith Ellison isn’t talking to me either, but Ellison spokesman Brian Evans told the Star Tribune: “We are reviewing the lawsuit and will vigorously defend the state’s prerogative to offer affordable tuition to both citizen and non-citizen state residents.”
That is a statement that begs the question. Contrary to the implication of Evans’s statement, the state appears not to have the “prerogative” of treating illegal aliens resident in the state better than it treats citizens of the United States. The challenged state laws are preempted by federal law.
Opting for discretion, the state Office of Higher Education bit its tongue. It declined to comment to the Star Tribune. However, the Minnesota Office of Higher Education has previously reported to the Star Tribune that 506 — 506 illegal aliens — received the Minnesota State Grant (i.e., free tuition) in 2024 after completing the application for the Minnesota Dream Act that provides in-state tuition rates and financial aid to qualifying students.
The lawsuit appears to be elegant in its simplicity. We will follow it closely. I have posted the 15-page complaint and attachment at the bottom via Scribd.
Ecf 1 – Complaint and Summonses 06.25.2025 by Scott Johnson on Scribd
