What is it with New Jersey? Something in the water, perhaps? In the latest from the Garden State, the Justice Department (DOJ) is hitting New Jersey with a lawsuit over their insistence that illegal aliens pay lower tuition rates at the state’s colleges and universities.
If you’re scratching your head and wondering in what universe that makes sense, you’ve probably got a lot of company. The DOJ’s press release on the matter states in part:
Today, the United States announced that it is challenging New Jersey laws providing in-state tuition and financial assistance for illegal aliens. These laws unconstitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens who are not afforded the same reduced tuition rates, scholarships, or subsidies, create incentives for illegal immigration, and reward illegal immigrants with benefits that U.S. citizens are not eligible for, all in direct conflict with federal law.
“Imagine being denied the opportunity of education in your own country,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. “By granting illegal aliens in-state tuition, the state of New Jersey is doing just that.”
“This is a simple matter of federal law: in New Jersey and nationwide, colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.”
I would take one small exception to the last paragraph quoted here; colleges should not provide benefits to illegal aliens at all. The only benefit illegal aliens should get here, is a plane ticket home – or a fast trip back across the border in a bus, if it’s close by.
The difference in in-state and out-of-state rates in New Jersey is, shall we say, substantial.
DOJ lawyers pointed to the wide disparities between in-state and out-of-state tuition rates. At the prestigious Rutgers University, New Jersey residents pay $14,933 a year for tuition, while non-New Jersey residents $35,758. Montclair State University charges New Jersey residents $15,678 a year for tuition while charging out-of-state students $26,394, according to the DOJ’s lawsuit.
“Imagine being denied the opportunity of education in your own country,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in a statement. “By granting illegal aliens in-state tuition, the state of New Jersey is doing just that.”
This is, though, a pattern we see in blue states around the nation. They protect illegal aliens, even criminals, with “sanctuary” policies. They give them generous welfare benefits. And they even release them onto the streets after court appearances, defying ICE detainers, while doing everything they can to confound federal immigration authorities.
Read More: DOJ Sues Dem Governor Over State Law Preventing LEOs, ICE Agents From Masking Up
That Thing That Never Happens Just Happened Again—Feds Charge Multiple Aliens With Illegally Voting
Then, there’s this:
There was no immediate response from New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, whose office will be defending the state against the legal challenge.
You don’t say. This legal challenge should end up being very interesting to watch; stay tuned.
This is a “gimme” for Republicans in this year’s midterm elections, by the way. It’s another of those 80-20 issues that Democrats are on the wrong side of; it’s another thing to hammer Democrat candidates with. “You want to give in-state tuition to people who are in your state and this country illegally. You want to reward these people for breaking the law, while asking more, and more, and more from the young people who were born American citizens.” Tie this to skyrocketing tuition rates, and you have a winning message, and that’s for sure and for certain.
That’s a message that should resonate with a lot of voters.
Editor’s Note: We voted for mass deportations, not mass amnesty. Help us continue to fight back against those trying to go against the will of the American people.
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