The Justice Department has sued the University of Delaware over a tuition policy that lets certain illegal immigrants pay in-state rates while American citizens from other states are billed far more for the same education.
According to the DOJ, Delaware residents pay about $15,740 a year at the university, while nonresidents pay roughly $42,470 — a gap of $26,730, with the nonresident rate running nearly 2.7 times higher. The lawsuit alleges that qualifying illegal immigrants can access that lower $15,740 rate even as out-of-state U.S. citizens are stuck paying the higher price.
DOJ says that arrangement violates federal law. The suit cites 8 U.S.C. §1623(a), which bars giving an immigrant who is not lawfully present a residency-based tuition benefit unless U.S. citizens can get the same benefit no matter where they live. Because Delaware’s policy doesn’t offer citizens that option, the department argues it conflicts directly with the statute.
The complaint also claims a second legal problem: the policy was adopted through university action rather than an actual law passed by the Delaware legislature, which DOJ says makes it independently unlawful under 8 U.S.C. §1621. The department describes the tuition policy as
