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President Donald Trump’s United States Attorney General Pam Bondi is moving to block a controversial Illinois law recently signed by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker extending student financial aid, including in-state tuition rates and scholarships, to illegal immigrants.
In a Tuesday statement, the Justice Department announced it had filed a complaint in the Southern District of Illinois against the state, Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, also a Democrat, as well as the boards of trustees of Illinois state universities.
The DOJ is seeking to block the state from enacting its laws granting illegal immigrants financial aid, which the DOJ is claiming violates federal law by unconstitutionally discriminating against U.S. citizens.
In its complaint, the DOJ states that “federal law prohibits providing aliens not lawfully present in the United States with any post-secondary education benefit on the basis of residency unless that benefit is also available to United States citizens and nationals regardless of their residency.”
Because of this, the complaint alleges that Illinois’ law is a “blatant and ongoing violation of federal law.”
‘NONSENSICAL’ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TUITION POLICY SCRAPPED IN KENTUCKY, BONDI LAWSUIT DEAL
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the DOJ are challenging Illinois laws granting student financial aid to illegal immigrants. Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law in August extending student financial aid eligibility to illegals. (Jason C. Andrew/Bloomberg via Getty Images and Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
In the DOJ statement, U.S. Attorney Steven Weinhoeft for the Southern District of Illinois commented that “Illinois has an apparent desire to win a ‘race to the bottom’ as the country’s leading sanctuary state.”
Weinhoeft said that Illinois’ “misguided approach mandating in-state tuition, scholarships, and financial aid to illegal aliens plainly violates federal law” and that…
