Trump administration is now suing 2 dozen states over in-state tuition laws for undocumented students

The Trump administration has now filed suit against every state with a law on the books that grants in-state tuition to undocumented students.

That includes Proposition 308, an Arizona law approved by voters in 2022 allowing most students who graduate from a high school in the state to get in-state tuition, regardless of immigration status.

The Department of Justice filed suit against the law at the end of August. Legal filings against the remaining laws — in Hawaii, D.C., Arkansas and Utah — were filed this month, bringing the total number of tuition-related suits to 25.

Susan Collins is the chief of staff and government affairs at TheDream.US, an education advocacy group that provides scholarships to undocumented students. She says despite barriers Dreamers face under the Trump administration, like heightened ICE arrests, delays renewing DACA, and now the lawsuits, students are eager to go to school.

“There’s no doubt that people are still seeing going to college and getting their degrees as something that adds to the stability of their futures,” she said.

Still, Collins says, the lawsuits could impact students for years to come as the legal challenges — and their appeals — make their way through court. Students in Texas and Florida, for example, no longer have access to in-state tuition after the attorneys general in those states sided with the Trump administration and repealed the laws.

But most laws are still on the books, meaning students in places like Arizona can still access in-state tuition, as legal challenges proceed.

“It’s like just another proof point of why we urgently need, instead of this patchwork across states, and these battles in courts … we ultimately need a federal solution from Congress,” Collins said.

Attorney General Kris Mayes has also said her office will defend Arizona’s law. It’s one of several cases against states now pending in federal courts.