6 events in Passaic County with a date

Trump DOJ picks fight with Sherrill

Undocumented NJ college students at issue

By: Mary Ann Koruth
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Undocumented college students are the object of the trump administration's latest lawsuit against New Jersey, this time targeting the state's higher education tuition and admission policies, adding heat to a growing list of legal battles between the Sherrill administration and the Feds.
..... The Sherrill administration called the lawsuit "a distraction."
..... Governor Mikie Sherrill has already locked horns with Trump's immigration enforcement system within her first 100 days, with two new laws limiting ICE and federal collaboration with state agencies and another law banning federal and state officers from wearing masks unless threatened.
..... The Trump administration's new lawsuit, filed April 30, [2026] alleges that state support for undocumented immigrates' psot-secondary education violates federal law and discriminates against Americans.
..... It challenges a policy put in place by Governor Chris Christie in 2013 that provides undocumented youth who meet residency requirements with in-state tuition rates, and a 2018 provision from the Murphy administration providing access to financial aid programs form the state's Higher Education Student Assistance Authority.
..... Meanwhile, Sherrill has sued Trump over a plan to open an immigrant detention center in Roxbury, and scored a win when a federal judge blocked Trump's bid to withhold funding for the $16 billion Gateway tunnel construction project in February. [2026]
..... "This lawsuit, the fourth the Trump administration has field against New Jersey in recent months, is yet another distraction," said Michael Symon's spokesperson for state Attorney General Jennifer Davenport.
..... "New jersey law is consistent with federal law, as another judge already held in rejecting a similar challenge," Symons said. "we look forward to responding in court, and to return the focus to ensuring public safety and all the other critical work of our office."

Similar, lawsuits against Minnesota, Texas

..... Earlier this year, [2026[] a federal judge dismissed a similar lawsuit against Minnesota's undocumented-friendly higher education programs, saying that it failed to prove these polices discriminated against American citizens, according to the Associated Press.
..... But similar bipartisan polices in Texas, put in place before New Jersey's and used as a precedent by other states, were struck down in a ruling that favored the federal government's legal challenge in June [2025] - a move that unseated two decades few in-state tuition benefits for undocumented youth, many of who grow up dratting public schools, in the U.S.
..... New Jersey's polices require that people who qualify for temporary protection for deportation through an Obama-era executive action called Deferred action for childhood Arrivals, or DACA status, must proved proof that they have met the state's residency requirements to avail of in-state tuition and scholarships.
..... Many of these undocumented youth, also known as Dreamers, have lived in the U.S. from childhood after arriving with their parents.

How they qualify

..... to qualify for benefits in New Jersey, students must have attended a New Jersey high school for three years, have a high school diploma form New Jersey, and must file an affidavit with their college or university, stating there intent to acquire legal status as soon as they are eligible to do so or that they already have begun that process, according to the HESAA website.
...... Dreamers are not eligible for federal student aid.
..... While the state website refers to "NJ Dreamers," or DACA recipients, the feds say in their lawsuit hat "illegal aliens" are receiving public benefits, and that New Jersey should offer the same in-state tuition rate and aid programs they offer undocumented residents to out-of-state American citizens.
..... "Many of these students have never known another home," said senate Majority Leader Senator Teresa Ruiz, (D-Essex), in a statement criticizing the lawsuit. "They have chosen to invest in themselves and in our state, and the federal government's decision to target them is cruel, shortsighted, and wrong."
..... "Rather than attacking young people who are contributing members of our communities, Washington should follow New Jersey's lead and focus on real solutions that make higher education more affordable and accessible to everyone who seeks it," she said.
..... Advocates, counter the Trump administration's argument that undocumented immigrants sue public benefits reserved for Americans by noting that undocumented immigrants pay income taxes to the IRS.
..... New Jersey's undocumented community has contributed a total of $1.8 billion in state and local taxes and $2.9 billion in federal taxes, according to The American Immigration Council, a pro-immigrant think tank.

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