The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Thursday morning against Arizona and the Arizona Board of Regents over Proposition 308, a voter-passed measure that allows students without legal status to claim in-state tuition at Arizona universities.
Prop. 308 passed in 2022 with 51.24% approval from Arizona voters, according to Ballotpedia. The law grants in-state tuition to students without legal citizenship if they graduated from any public or private high school in Arizona while being physically present in the state and went to school in Arizona for two years.
READ MORE: Dreamers at ASU say Proposition 308 would expand access to higher education
In the complaint, the DOJ argued the law sets up "blatant unequal treatment" for immigrants without legal status by "favoring" them over students who are U.S. citizens from other states. The DOJ said this constitutes a violation of federal law.
"For the Fall 2025 semester, at least 720 illegal aliens received in-state tuition at Arizona public universities and colleges, including 432 at Arizona State University," according to the complaint.
The DOJ cited reporting from the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting to justify claims made in the complaint, but the center said the DOJ inaccurately cited its reporting and the 432 students represents data from Spring 2023 through Fall 2025 rather than one semester.
According to the complaint, more than 3,600 students without legal status qualify for in-state tuition per year. The complaint alleged that last year, students without legal status received roughly $10.5 million in reduced tuition at ASU.
AZCIR said those numbers were also inaccurate.
In a written statement, a spokesperson for the Arizona Board of Regents said it is reviewing the lawsuit and working with state leaders on next steps.
"The Arizona Board of Regents carries out the laws enacted by the state and approved by Arizona voters," the spokesperson said.
Proposition 308 also allows qualified students to receive financial aid, grants, scholarships and tuition or fee waivers regardless of legal status, according to UA.
Reyna Montoya, the founder and CEO of Aliento, said in a written statement the measure reflects the will of Arizona's voters and is an investment in the state's future. Aliento will continue to stand with impacted students, she said.
"The DOJ's focus on the number of Dreamers receiving in-state tuition at Arizona State University ignores the value these students bring to our state and is incorrect," Montoya stated. "These are students who attended Arizona schools, graduated, and are pursuing higher education in the communities they call home."
"Dreamers" refers to individuals without legal status who were brought to the U.S. as children and could have been protected under the never-passed proposals in Congress called the DREAM Act.
Arizona is one of four states the DOJ sued Thursday over such policies, alongside New Mexico, Oregon and Washington, according to a DOJ press release. Challenges have now been made to 21 states' in-state tuition laws, with five similar lawsuits decided in favor of the DOJ.
The DOJ has pending lawsuits against 12 states over similar tuition laws regarding students without legal status, per the press release.
"Prop. 308 is not going anywhere," Nikolas Gonzalez, a sophomore studying construction management and technology, said. "It is a law that was voted in by the people of Arizona, and it is important that as we're strongly opposing this lawsuit and what it might present, you need to be completely grounded in reality and just keep moving forward with hope."
READ MORE: Student advocates look to increase education about benefits of the approved Prop. 308
Gonzalez is the vice president of Aliento at ASU, a club providing resources to students without legal status, as well as those from mixed-status families. It also serves students who are protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
"Many undocumented students come from socioeconomic backgrounds where the economy of going to college is simply a huge barrier for them," Gonzalez said. "We want Prop. 308 to provide an opportunity for people to get education so they can build up their lives and be able to support their families through their education."
Gonzalez worked with Aliento in high school on the voter campaign for Prop. 308.
"It just felt like an attack that hit a lot of us on very personal levels, as they're trying to strip away what we already have here in providing a higher education to 'Dreamers'," Gonzalez said.
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf III, Carsten Oyer, Kate Gore, Grace Lawrence and Senna James.
Reach the reporter at ajanusee@asu.edu and follow @lexijanusee on X.
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Lexi Janusee is a senior reporter at The State Press. She is a sophomore studying Journalism with a minor in Theatre. This is her third semester with The State Press, working previously as a full-time Echo reporter.
