A federal judge on Tuesday blocked Kentucky from offering in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, converting a tentative agreement into a binding court order following a Trump administration lawsuit against the policy.
In a 22-page order on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove, a George W. Bush appointee, approved a consent judgment invalidating the state’s tuition policy and permanently barring its enforcement. The decision finalizes a deal first announced in August, when Kentucky officials and the Department of Justice agreed to end the practice following a federal lawsuit.
At the time, Republican Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said the policy change would take effect once a judge signed off, describing that step as a formality.
The judge acknowledged that the agreement between the state and federal governments sought to accomplish something Kentucky officials could not do under state law: immediately invalidate an existing regulation without going through the normal repeal process. Even so, the court approved the agreement on Tuesday, finding that federal law required the policy to be struck down.
At issue was a regulation imposed by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education that allowed certain students without legal immigration status to qualify for in-state tuition if they graduated from a Kentucky high school.
The DOJ argued the rule conflicted with federal immigration law, including a 1996 statute that bars states from offering postsecondary education benefits to immigrants in the country illegally unless those same benefits are available to all U.S. citizens regardless of residency.
The court ultimately sided with the Trump administration, concluding the policy violated federal law because it was created through an administrative regulation rather than a state law passed by the legislature.
“The sole and exclusive means by which a State may provide public benefits to an unlawful alien is through the enactment of a State law,” Tatenhove wrote.
Because Kentucky’s policy did not meet that requirement, the judge declared it invalid under the Supremacy Clause and issued a permanent injunction blocking its enforcement.
Attorney General Pam Bondi framed the ruling as part of a broader push by the Trump administration to eliminate taxpayer-funded benefits for people in the country illegally.
Our attorneys @TheJusticeDept just secured a crucial win for America-first policies: Kentucky can no longer give in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens. Americans will NOT be treated like second-class citizens in their own country.
President Trump made it clear via…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) March 31, 2026
The case is part of a wider legal campaign targeting similar tuition policies nationwide.
The DOJ has filed challenges against programs in states including Virginia, Oklahoma, and Texas, arguing they unlawfully favor immigrants without legal status over out-of-state U.S. citizens. In Texas, a federal judge recently blocked a comparable policy, while courts have rejected the administration’s arguments in other cases, including a recent loss in Minnesota.
DOJ SUES KENTUCKY OVER IN-STATE TUITION FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT STUDENTS
Nationwide, more than 20 states and the District of Columbia offer in-state tuition to students without legal status under certain conditions.
The Kentucky ruling could carry broader implications because it focuses on how such policies are enacted. The court emphasized that states may only extend those benefits through explicit legislation, not through administrative regulations.
