California unlawfully provides in-state benefits such as reduced tuition for undocumented students, the US Justice Department said Thursday in a lawsuit against the state.
The state is breaking federal law by providing undocumented students with a benefit not offered to out-of-state students, who are US citizens, according to the complaint filed the US District Court for the Eastern District of California.
The lawsuit cites President Donald Trump’s Feb. 19 executive order directing federal departments and agencies to block undocumented people from receiving public benefits, and his April 28 executive order directing officials to stop enforcing laws and practices that favor undocumented people over any US citizens.
It also points to a pair of laws passed in 1996 to “prevent public benefits from serving as an incentive for unlawful immigration.”
“We will continue bringing litigation against California until the state ceases its flagrant disregard for federal law,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.
California law allows state universities to provide in-state tuition rates, scholarships, and loans for undocumented students who have applied for legal status or will apply when they are eligible and meet all other requirements for resident benefits.
The California Supreme Court in 2010 unanimously upheld the policy, and the US Supreme Court declined to review the move. The Thursday lawsuit asks the federal court in a footnote to overturn the 2010 opinion.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s and Attorney General Rob Bonta’s offices didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The case is USA v. Newsom, E.D. Cal., No. 2:25-at-01612, 11/20/25.
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