Judge blocks Illinois laws giving illegal immigrants in-state tuition
A federal judge ruled that Illinois’ laws providing in-state tuition and public benefits to illegal immigrants are unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause. This decision comes after the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Illinois, asserting that the state’s policies favored illegal immigrants over U.S. citizens in violation of federal law. The judge’s ruling permanently prevents Illinois from enforcing the RISE Act and the DREAM Act, which offered financial aid and scholarships to undocumented students. U.S. Attorney Steven weinhoeft welcomed the decision, emphasizing that the law should treat all U.S. citizens equally. Illinois officials argued that their programs are legal and support fair access to education. The DOJ is pursuing similar lawsuits in several other states. The ruling marks a victory for federal efforts to restrict illegal immigration and aligns with executive orders aimed at limiting state benefits for undocumented immigrants. Pritzker and other state officials have not yet decided whether to appeal the decision.
A federal judge handed a loss to Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) and an immigration policy win to President Donald Trump on Friday after ruling that Illinois state laws providing in-state tuition and other public benefits to illegal immigrants are “unconstitutional and invalid” under the Supremacy Clause.
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Illinois and Pritzker in September 2025, arguing the state violated federal law by providing residency-based tuition and financial aid to illegal immigrants while not offering the same public benefits to all U.S. citizens who live outside Illinois. U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn’s ruling permanently prevents Illinois from enforcing the RISE Act, which provides illegal immigrants with state-funded financial aid, and the DREAM Act, which established scholarship opportunities for such students.
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U.S. Attorney Steven Weinhoeft welcomed the ruling in a statement.
“Illinois sought to incentivize illegal immigration on the taxpayer’s dime by treating illegal aliens better than U.S. citizens living in other states, in clear violation of federal law,” the statement said. “This ruling enforces the statute Congress wrote and stops the State from putting illegal aliens ahead of American citizens.”
A spokesperson for Pritzker defended the policies in response to the lawsuit in 2025, saying then that “all Illinoisans deserve a fair shot to obtain an education, and our programs and policies are consistent with federal laws.”
The Justice Department has similar pending lawsuits against California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Kansas, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Virginia. The injunction has been delayed for 14 days to allow Illinois to appeal the case, and state officials have not yet publicly decided whether to challenge the ruling.
“Under [federal law], a state may not grant postsecondary education benefits to illegal aliens on the basis of residence in that state unless it makes the same benefit available to every United States citizen and national, without regard to where they live,” the department’s statement also said. “Illinois chose to give preferential treatment based on residence to people here illegally. It did not extend that same treatment to American citizens who live outside Illinois. That preference is illegal.”
Preventing illegal immigrants from receiving in-state tuition benefits at state colleges and universities around the country is referenced in an April 2025 executive order titled “Protecting American Communities From Criminal Aliens,” which directed the administration to “stop the enforcement” of “State laws that provide in-State higher education tuition to aliens but not out-of-state American citizens.”
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The lawsuit named Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, and officials from various state and community colleges. McGlynn is a Trump-appointed judge.
The decision represents a victory for the Department of Homeland Security as it continues its crackdown on illegal immigration. Pritzker, meanwhile, has asserted himself as one of the administration’s leading opponents on immigration.
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