Well, Illinois just got a very expensive lesson in how federal law works, and spoiler alert, the state flunked the test. A federal judge has officially ruled that the Land of Lincoln's program giving in-state tuition rates and taxpayer-funded financial aid to certain illegal immigrants is unconstitutional. As Conservative Brief reported, this is being chalked up as yet another courtroom win for the Trump administration in its ongoing crusade against state policies it says conflict with immigration law.
U.S. District Judge David W. Dugan dropped the gavel on Illinois' tuition policy AND the state's cleverly acronymed RISE Act, which stands for Retention of Illinois Students and Equity. Nothing says "equity" quite like charging a kid from Indiana full freight while giving someone who entered the country illegally a nice discount, right?
Here's how the RISE Act worked. If an undocumented student graduated from an Illinois high school, attended classes in the state for a minimum of three years, and pinky-promised to pursue lawful permanent residency whenever they became eligible, they could score state financial aid. Federal prosecutors looked at that arrangement and said, "Yeah, that's not how any of this works."
The Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Illinois brought the lawsuit, arguing that federal law generally prevents states from handing out college education perks to people here illegally based on residency unless those identical benefits are available to every American citizen regardless of which state they call home. So basically, a U.S. citizen living twenty minutes away in Missouri was paying MORE than someone without legal status. Comedy writes itself sometimes.
The lawsuit named Governor JB Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, and officials from a whole roster of public universities including the University of Illinois, Southern Illinois University, Chicago State, Eastern Illinois, Illinois State, Northeastern Illinois, and Rend Lake College. That is quite the defendant list for one tuition policy.
U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft was not shy about celebrating. He stated that Illinois tried to "incentivize illegal immigration on the taxpayer's dime" by treating undocumented individuals more favorably than American citizens from other states. He added that the ruling enforces exactly what Congress wrote and prevents the state from prioritizing illegal immigrants over citizens.
Supporters of the program have argued it simply helped students who spent years living and studying in Illinois continue their education. A noble sentiment, sure, but apparently one that collides head-on with existing federal statute.
As for what happens next? Neither Pritzker's office nor Raoul's office bothered responding to comment requests after the ruling. No word yet on whether Illinois plans to appeal. If they do, the case heads to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Until then, the tuition and financial aid provisions are dead in the water.
Perhaps the most interesting ripple effect is that several other states have similar programs on the books. Whether those face comparable legal challenges remains to be seen, but Judge Dugan just handed opponents of such policies a very large piece of legal ammunition.
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