July 17 (UPI) — The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Maryland laws offering in-state tuition benefits to qualifying undocumented students, the latest challenge to so-called Dream Act laws amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

The lawsuit filed Thursday is the 13th brought by the Trump administration challenging state laws that permit undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates, alleging the laws unconstitutionally discriminate against out-of-state U.S. citizens.

“By granting illegal aliens in-state tuition, Maryland is not only violating federal law, but subsidizing education for illegal aliens, costing Maryland taxpayers roughly $9M for just one academic year,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in a statement.

“This Department of Justice is committed to fulfilling President Trump’s promise that illegal aliens will not obtain taxpayer benefits or preferential treatment over our own citizens.”

Maryland passed the Maryland DREAM Act in 2011. The law, which has been twice amended, extends eligibility for in-state tuition benefits to undocumented students who graduate from a Maryland high school, enroll in a public college or university within six years of graduation and promise to apply for permanent residency within 30 days of becoming eligible. Other requirements include showing that they or a parent or legal guardian filed Maryland income-tax returns during the two years preceding the academic year for which they are seeking the benefit.

The lawsuit asks the court to enjoin the law, arguing it violates a federal statute enacted in 1996 that bans states from offering in-state benefits to any undocumented immigrant unless a U.S. citizen, regardless of where they reside, is eligible for the same benefit.

“Such blatant unequal treatment favoring illegal aliens in Maryland over U.S. citizens from other states is squarely prohibited and preempted by Congress,” the federal lawyers said in the lawsuit.

Proponents of so-called Dream Acts argue that without these laws, higher education is effectively kept out of reach of undocumented immigrants living in the state. Offering in-state tuition also produces residents with higher incomes, creating increased tax revenue.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said his office is reviewing the complaint.

“We will respond through the courts, as we do whenever Maryland’s laws are challenged, and we will keep fighting for the young people in our state and their futures,” he said in a statement.

The lawsuit is part of the Trump administration’s aggressive anti-immigration policies, which has seen noncitizens rounded up and deported.

In April 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the attorney general to identify and stop the enforcement of state laws that favor undocumented immigrants over U.S. citizens.

The federal lawyers have now challenged laws in 13 states, with four lawsuits resulting in orders permanently enjoining the states’ Dream Act laws.

The remaining lawsuits are still pending.