Overview
- Filed Dec. 29–30 in the Eastern District of Virginia’s Richmond division, the complaint seeks a permanent injunction, and a judge has not yet been assigned.
- Virginia’s laws, applied since 2022, allow certain students without lawful status who establish residency to receive in-state tuition and state-administered financial assistance.
- DOJ says the policy confers benefits on unlawfully present immigrants that out-of-state U.S. citizens cannot obtain on equal terms, in violation of federal statute.
- The case is part of a broader 2025 DOJ campaign that has brought similar suits in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Illinois, Minnesota and California, with some states settling and others litigating.
- Advocacy groups note more than 20 states have comparable tuition policies and many offer state aid, and the filing comes days before Virginia’s change in executive and attorney general leadership.