Biden-Appointed Judge Tosses DOJ Lawsuit Challenging Minnesota’s In-State Tuition For Illegal Immigrants

Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times,

A district court judge tossed out the Trump administration’s lawsuit on March 27 against Minnesota laws that allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates, or in some cases waive tuition, for college and university classes, ruling that the state law doesn’t violate federal law.

United States District Judge Katherine Menendez, appointed in 2021 by President Biden, granted the state’s motion to dismiss the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit, filed on June 25, 2025, finding Minnesota’s in-state tuition rules didn’t discriminate against citizens.

“As Defendants point out, there are multiple ways a student could qualify for Resident Tuition without residing in Minnesota, such as attending a Minnesota high school while living in a neighboring state, or by attending a Minnesota high school while living in a neighboring state, or by attending a Minnesota boarding school,” Menendez wrote in the decision.

The federal government sued Minnesota’s Gov. Tim Walz and other state officials over the state’s laws that allow foreign nationals to receive lower or free tuition for college.

Minnesota law states that any student, other than a non-immigrant alien, can qualify for a resident tuition rate at state universities and colleges if they attend high school in the state for at least three years and graduate from a state high school or get a high school equivalent degree.

The law also states an illegal immigrant must give the state proof they have complied with federal selective service registration requirements, filed to obtain lawful immigration status, and provide documents showing they have tried to get lawful immigration status to qualify for in-state tuition.

Menendez also agreed with Walz and Minnesota’s Attorney General Keith Ellison, who argued they should not have been included in the lawsuit by the DOJ because “none of the Minnesota statutes mention either official, and nowhere in the Complaint does the United States allege specific actions of involvement by either official.”

The judge dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it stands as the final judgment and can’t be refiled.

Students paying in-state tuition pay half the cost of those paying out-of-state tuition. For the 2024–2025 school year, the average out-of-state tuition in Minnesota was $26,700, while in-state tuition was about $12,900, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

In addition to the in-state tuition law, Minnesota passed the North Star Promise Program, signed by Walz in 2023, which gives illegal immigrants who attend high school for three years in the state the ability to qualify for free tuition, scholarships, grants, and stipends if their families make less than $80,000.

The DOJ’s lawsuit concerned the interpretation of federal immigration law that limits eligibility and preferential treatment of immigrants not lawfully present in the United States.

The law states immigrants who are not lawfully present in the country “shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a state for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit without regard to whether the citizen or national is such a resident.”

In the lawsuit, the DOJ alleged the state’s policy to provide reduced and free tuition for illegal immigrants unlawfully discriminated against U.S. citizens.

The Diana E. Murphy U.S. Courthouse in Minneapolis on June 13, 2024. Michael Goldberg/AP Photo

“No state can be allowed to treat Americans like second-class citizens in their own country by offering financial benefits to illegal aliens,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the time of the lawsuit filing.

Federal law prohibits higher-learning institutions from providing postsecondary education benefits to immigrants that are not offered to U.S. citizens, according to the DOJ.

The DOJ, Walz, and Ellison’s offices did not immediately return requests for comment about the decision.