OAN Staff Blake Wolf
3:00 PM – Monday, June 30, 2025
The Department of Justice announced a lawsuit against the state of Kentucky for providing illegal aliens discounted in-state tuition, emphasizing that the law “unconstitutionally discriminates against U.S. citizens.”
The lawsuit, announced on Tuesday, announces: “Today the United States is challenging a Kentucky regulation that provides reduced in-state tuition for illegal aliens. This law unconstitutionally discriminates against U.S. citizens, who are not afforded the same privilege, in direct conflict with federal law.”
The suit reiterated that Kentucky is violating federal immigration law through its reduced tuition for illegal aliens, while American citizens are “not afforded the same privilege.”
“No state can be allowed to treat Americans like second-class citizens in their own country by offering financial benefits to illegal aliens,” Attorney General Pam Bondi stated. “The Department of Justice just won on this exact issue in Texas, and we look forward to fighting in Kentucky to protect the rights of American citizens.”
“In the complaint, the United States seeks to enjoin enforcement of a Kentucky regulation that requires public colleges and universities to provide reduced in-state tuition rates for illegal aliens who are deemed to be Kentucky residents. Federal law prohibits public institutions of higher education from providing benefits to illegal aliens that are not offered to U.S. citizens. This regulation blatantly conflicts with federal law and thus is unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution,” the press release added.
Governor Andy Beshear (D-Ky.) was named in the lawsuit, although his office later shifted blame to the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, an independent agency.
“We haven’t been served with this lawsuit and had no advance notice, nor any prior discussion with the Department of Justice about it,” said Crystal Staley, a Beshear spokesperson.
“Under Kentucky law, CPE [Council on Postsecondary Education] is independent, has sole authority to determine student residency requirements for the purposes of in-state tuition, and controls its own regulations. The Governor has no authority to alter CPE’s regulations and should not be a party to the lawsuit,” Staley added.
Meanwhile, Kentucky state Rep. T.J. Roberts thanked President Donald Trump and Bondi for the legal move, as Kentucky state Republicans have already made previous attempts to correct the “discriminatory, anti-American law.”
“The Beshear administration has been given the chance to right this wrong – first when I introduced legislation to shed light on the issue, and again following a successful legal challenge in Texas. Unfortunately, the governor has chosen to ignore those opportunities and instead continues to defy the Constitution, manipulate the regulatory process to advance his own agenda, and misuse the powers of his office to elevate his national political ambitions. It’s a shameful disservice to the people of Kentucky,” Roberts stated.
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