On November 20, 2025, the Department of Justice sued Governor Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta, the Regents of the University of California, the Board of Trustees of California State University, and the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges over the state’s policy allowing in-state tuition benefits for undocumented students. The tuition suit targets Assembly Bill 540, which passed with bipartisan support in 2001 and offers in-state tuition rates to undocumented students who completed high school in California. The law also offers in-state tuition to U.S. citizens who graduated from California schools but moved out of the state before enrolling in college. The Department of Justice claims California is violating federal law and discriminating against U.S. citizens who reside outside the state by providing benefits to undocumented students while denying them to out-of-state U.S. citizens. Additionally, the Justice Department is asking for a court order stopping California from enforcing the California Dream Act, which affords scholarships and subsidized loans to undocumented students.