Pennsylvania State University is the latest higher education institution facing a lawsuit from the federal government for discriminating against U.S. students in favor of illegal immigrants.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit filed this week says that PSU’s policy is unconstitutional because it allows students who are illegal aliens eligibility for in-state tuition, while denying students who are U.S. citizens but residents of other states tuition at a reduced rate.
“That constitutes blatant unequal treatment favoring illegal aliens over U.S. citizens.,” said the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
The lawsuit cites federal law that says illegal aliens “shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State . . . for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit . . . without regard to whether the citizen or national is such a resident.”
The Department of Justice Files Complaint Against the Pennsylvania State University Challenging Its Policy that Provide IN-STATE TUITION TO ILLEGAL ALIENS
“The Department of Justice today continues its efforts to ensure that no state law or university policy gives preferential…
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PSU’s website for the program says: “Undocumented students, with or without DACA, can be eligible for in-state tuition if they meet Penn State’s residency requirements.”
The lawsuit against PSU is the 27th that the DOJ has filed across the country challenging similar policies. Lawsuits in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Illinois and Kansas resulted in favorable orders, the DOJ said.
Trump administration sues Penn State University for offering reduced tuition to illegal immigrants while charging out-of-state Americans higher rates.
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“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,” DOJ Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward, Jr. said in a statement. “Congress long ago made clear that states, through their public universities, cannot give reduced tuition to illegal aliens not available to all Americans.”
The lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court to declare PSU’s policy unconstitutional and issue an injunction blocking the university from enforcing it.
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate added that the university “ignored” Congress’s mandate barring illegals from tuition benefits unless U.S. citizens also have access.
“The Department will continue to challenge policies that unlawfully disadvantage American citizens,” he added.
