The U.S. Department of Justice sued Arizona, along with New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington, to block state laws that grant in-state college tuition and financial aid to immigrants living in the country illegally. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Arizona’s policy conflicts with federal statute by extending tuition benefits to immigrants without legal status that are not equally available to out-of-state U.S. citizens.
The Impact of Proposition 308 in Arizona
The federal lawsuit targets Proposition 308, a ballot measure that Arizona voters approved in November 2022, according to reports by AZFamily. Under this law, students who attended an Arizona high school for at least two years and graduated qualify for in-state tuition at public universities and community colleges, regardless of their immigration status.
Drawing heavily upon a January publication from the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, the Justice Department’s complaint calculated that the measure could make upwards of 3,600 undocumented immigrants per year eligible for in-state tuition. Based on data from AZFamily, at least 720 immigrants lacking legal status utilized in-state tuition rates across Arizona public higher education institutions during the fall 2025 semester alone, a figure comprising 432 students at Arizona State University, nearly 200 at Pima Community College, and under 70 at the University of Arizona.
With roughly a $24,000 gap between in-state and out-of-state tuition at ASU, the DOJ calculated that immigrants without legal status received about $10.5 million in reduced tuition at the university over the past year alone, as reported by AZFamily.
Federal officials argue that the state policies bypass federal immigration restrictions. “By granting illegal aliens in-state tuition, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, and Arizona are pushing citizens to the side and ignoring federal law,” Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. said in a written statement cited by AZFamily. Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate added that federal law requires colleges to provide U.S. citizens the same benefits extended to immigrants without legal status.
Thursday’s filings bring the total number of states sued by the Justice Department over similar in-state tuition laws to 21, according to AZFamily. Federal courts have permanently blocked comparable laws in five states—Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Illinois—following rulings from bodies such as the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Lawsuits in a dozen other states, including Minnesota, Virginia, California, and New York, remain pending.
In August 2025, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes made a public comment concluding that Prop 308 is legal and does not conflict with federal immigration-related benefit restrictions, though she has not issued a public statement following the DOJ’s Thursday announcement, according to AZFamily.