A federal court in Illinois ruled that the state’s in-state tuition and related education benefits for undocumented immigrants—under the Acevedo Bill, the DREAM Act, and the RISE Act—are unconstitutional and invalid under the Supremacy Clause and federal law. The Department of Justice contends these programs violate 8 U.S.C. 1623 by not offering the same benefits to all U.S. citizens, and it argues the state cannot grant such benefits based on residence when they are not available to all citizens. The ruling aligns with the Trump administration’s broader push to end in-state tuition and state financial aid for undocumented students and comes as the DOJ has filed similar suits against other states, including Colorado. In Colorado, the DOJ has sued to dismantle the ASSET Act, which provides in-state tuition and aid to undocumented students, while Gov. Jared Polis defends residency-based limits on tuition and notes these students do not receive federal aid. Colorado and Illinois are part of a wider federal effort to enforce federal immigration and education laws, a pattern reflected in multiple lawsuits nationwide. The debates spotlight tensions between state policy innovation on higher education accessibility and federal statutory constraints aimed at treating all U.S. citizens equally.