Overview

• The DOJ filed a complaint Wednesday in U.S. District Court challenging Minnesota’s 2013 Dream Act and North Star Promise Program, which grant in-state and free tuition to undocumented residents.
• The suit argues these state laws conflict with 8 USC 1623(a) and the Supremacy Clause by offering benefits to noncitizens that are unavailable to U.S. citizens from outside Minnesota.
• Minnesota is the third state this month, following Texas and Kentucky, to face DOJ litigation against in-state tuition benefits that exist in at least 21 states.
• Attorney General Pam Bondi said the action enforces presidential executive orders aimed at preventing state policies from favoring undocumented immigrants over American citizens.
• The complaint names Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and the Minnesota Office of Higher Education as defendants, and the state has vowed to defend its residency-based tuition rules.