President Trump’s Division of Justice filed a lawsuit in opposition to Democrat Governor Andy Beshear and Kentucky state schooling officers for offering in-state faculty tuition to unlawful aliens—whereas making out-of-state U.S. residents pay full worth.
The lawsuit, filed within the U.S. District Courtroom for the Japanese District of Kentucky, targets Beshear, Training Commissioner Robbie Fletcher, and the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Training (CPE) for violating federal legislation and the U.S. Structure’s Supremacy Clause.
On the heart of the controversy is a Kentucky regulation—13 Ky. Admin. Regs. 2:045 § 8(4)(a)—which permits unlawful immigrants who graduate from Kentucky excessive colleges to obtain dramatically discounted in-state tuition, whilst Americans from neighboring states are compelled to pay a lot larger charges.
“No state may be allowed to deal with People like second-class residents in their very own nation by providing monetary advantages to unlawful aliens,” mentioned Legal professional Common Pamela Bondi.
“The Division of Justice simply gained on this precise subject in Texas, and we look ahead to preventing in Kentucky to guard the rights of Americans.”
The DOJ’s criticism factors out that federal legislation, particularly 8 U.S.C. § 1623(a), explicitly prohibits states from granting in-state tuition to unlawful aliens except all U.S. residents—no matter residency—are given the identical profit. Kentucky’s legislation does the precise reverse, making a two-tiered system that punishes People whereas rewarding lawbreakers.
To make issues worse, Kentucky by no means handed a state legislation affirmatively approving this profit for unlawful aliens—one other violation of federal legislation underneath 8 U.S.C. § 1621(d). As a substitute, the profit was granted via bureaucratic regulation, bypassing the legislative course of completely.
The lawsuit additionally cites latest Trump Government Orders aimed toward ending taxpayer subsidization of unlawful immigration. Government Order 14218, signed in February 2025, mandates that no taxpayer-funded advantages be given to unqualified aliens.
And EO 14287 makes clear: any legislation that offers higher remedy to unlawful aliens than to Americans is illegal and unenforceable.
Learn the criticism under:
