Here’s a scenario that should make every parent’s blood boil.

Your kid follows the rules. Studies hard. Applies to the University of Virginia. And because you live in, say, Ohio or North Carolina, they’ll pay out-of-state tuition — roughly $56,000 per year.

Meanwhile, someone who crossed the border illegally, violated federal immigration law, and has no legal right to be in this country? They get the in-state rate. Around $20,000.

Your law-abiding American child pays nearly three times more than an illegal immigrant.

The Trump DOJ just said enough is enough.

Virginia’s Upside-Down Policy

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit accusing Virginia of unlawfully granting in-state tuition discounts to illegal aliens.

Under Virginia’s education code, illegal immigrants can be classified as state residents — qualifying them for the same reduced tuition that actual Virginia residents receive. The same discount that American citizens from 49 other states cannot access.

The DOJ didn’t mince words: this policy is “not only wrong but illegal.”

And they’re right. Federal law explicitly prohibits states from giving illegal aliens benefits that aren’t available to U.S. citizens from other states. It’s right there in 8 U.S.C. § 1623, passed by Congress in 1996.

Virginia decided to ignore it.

Americans Last

Think about the absurdity of this arrangement.

A family in Maryland — right across the Potomac from Virginia — has to pay out-of-state rates at UVA. They’re American citizens. They pay federal taxes. Their kids can serve in the military, vote, and do everything else citizens do.

But they don’t get the discount.

An illegal immigrant who snuck across the border, never paid into the system legally, and could be deported at any moment? Discount applied.

This is what “Americans Last” looks like in practice. It’s not a slogan. It’s actual policy, written into state education codes, defended by state officials, and paid for by taxpayers who watch their own kids get pushed to the back of the line.

The Legal Reality

Virginia isn’t alone in this. Multiple blue states have created similar policies, essentially daring the federal government to do something about it.

For years, the feds did nothing. The Obama administration had no interest in challenging sanctuary-friendly education policies. The Biden administration actively encouraged them.

Now there’s a DOJ willing to enforce the law.

The statute is clear: if a state gives in-state tuition to illegal aliens, it must offer the same rate to all U.S. citizens regardless of residence. Virginia didn’t do that. They created a special carve-out for people who broke immigration law while excluding American citizens who followed every rule.

That’s not compassion. That’s discrimination against your own countrymen.

The Incentive Problem

Policies like this don’t exist in a vacuum. They send signals.

When Virginia tells illegal immigrants they can access discounted college tuition, they’re saying: come here, settle down, we’ll take care of you. The benefits of violating immigration law just increased. The cost-benefit calculation for potential border crossers shifted a little more toward “go for it.”

Multiply this by sanctuary cities, free healthcare programs, driver’s licenses for illegals, and a thousand other policies — and you get exactly what we got under Biden. A border crisis driven partly by the knowledge that America rewards illegal entry instead of punishing it.

Every in-state tuition discount for an illegal immigrant is a billboard at the southern border saying “come on in.”

What About the Kids?

The predictable response from open-borders advocates: “But these are kids! They didn’t choose to come here illegally! They deserve an education!”

Let’s unpack that.

First: many of these “kids” are adults. The tuition discounts apply to college students, not elementary schoolers. We’re talking about people old enough to understand their immigration status.

Second: nobody’s saying they can’t attend college. They just have to pay the same rate as other out-of-state students. The same rate that American citizens pay.

Third: the “they didn’t choose” argument proves too much. Lots of people face circumstances they didn’t choose. A kid born to parents in rural Montana didn’t choose to live far from elite universities. A kid whose parents couldn’t afford to move to Virginia didn’t choose that either. We don’t restructure the entire tuition system around their circumstances.

Illegal immigrants aren’t entitled to better treatment than American citizens just because their situation is sympathetic.

Virginia’s Defense

Virginia officials will presumably argue that their policy encourages education, helps the state’s workforce, and benefits the economy.

Fine. Make that argument for all out-of-state students. If education is so valuable, why charge anyone out-of-state rates? Why not give everyone the discount?

The answer, of course, is that in-state tuition is a benefit for residents — people who live in Virginia, pay Virginia taxes, and contribute to the state. It’s not a universal entitlement.

Except Virginia decided to extend it to illegal immigrants while denying it to American citizens from neighboring states. That’s not an education policy. That’s an immigration policy dressed up in academic robes.

The Bigger Fight

This lawsuit is part of a broader Trump administration push to eliminate policies that reward illegal immigration.

Sanctuary cities are getting pressured. Federal grants are being tied to immigration enforcement cooperation. ICE is operating without the restrictions Biden imposed.

And now the DOJ is going after states that use tuition policy to subsidize illegal residents.

Each individual policy might seem small. But together they created a system where breaking immigration law came with benefits instead of consequences. Unwinding that system requires challenging each piece — including the education carve-outs that blue states thought nobody would touch.

Virginia probably assumed they could keep this policy forever. After all, who would sue them? Not Obama. Not Biden.

Surprise.

The Bottom Line

American families work multiple jobs to afford college tuition. They save for years. They take on crushing debt. They watch their kids compete for limited spots and limited financial aid.

And then they learn that Virginia gives illegal immigrants a better deal than their own children would receive.

That’s not immigration policy. That’s a slap in the face to every American family that plays by the rules.

The Trump DOJ is finally doing something about it. The lawsuit probably won’t be resolved quickly — these things never are. But the message is clear: the era of rewarding illegal immigration at Americans’ expense is ending.

Virginia can adjust its policy or lose in court.

Either way, American families win.