The Department of Justice (DOJ) is suing the state of Virginia over a law that gives illegal migrants perks such as in-state tuition and state financial assistance.

In a legal filing on Monday, the DOJ argued that “federal law prohibits States from providing aliens who are not lawfully present in the United States with any postsecondary education benefit that is denied to U.S. citizens.”

The DOJ pointed out that Virginia Code §§ 23.1-502 and 23.505.1 “classify illegal aliens as Virginia residents based on certain conditions.” Due to this, illegal aliens in Virginia are eligible to receive “reduced in-state tuition and state-administered financial assistance for public state colleges and universities” while U.S. citizens from out of state “are ineligible.”

“Federal law prohibits States from providing aliens who are not lawfully present in the United States with any postsecondary education benefit that is denied to U.S. citizens,” the legal complaint says. “See 8 U.S.C. § 1623(a). There are no exceptions. Virginia violates it nonetheless. This court should put an end to this and permanently enjoin the enforcement of provisions of the Virginia Education Code that directly conflict with federal immigration law.”

The complaint continues in part:

Virginia Code §§ 23.1-502 and 23.505.1 explicitly classify illegal aliens as Virginia residents based on certain conditions. That classification makes illegal aliens eligible for reduced in-state tuition and state-administered financial assistance for public state colleges and universities while U.S. citizens from other states are ineligible for the reduced tuition and must pay higher out-of-state tuition rates. This is not only wrong but illegal. The challenged act’s discriminatory treatment in favor of illegal aliens over U.S. citizens is squarely prohibited and preempted by federal law, which provides that “an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State . . . for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit . . . without regard to whether the citizen or national is such a resident.” 8 U.S.C. § 1623(a) (emphasis added.) The challenged act, as applied to illegal aliens, is thus unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution. This Court should declare Virginia’s law, as applied to illegal aliens, preempted and permanently enjoin its enforcement.

The Trump administration has previously filed lawsuits against Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Illinois, and California in response to similar laws that allowed illegal migrants to receive in-state tuition, the Hill reported. While Texas, Kentucky, and Oklahoma have agreed to end in-state tuition for illegal aliens, “Illinois and California continue to fight their lawsuits.”

Breitbart News’s Katherine Hamilton reported in July that the Department of Education announced it would “end taxpayer subsidization of career, technical, and adult education programs for illegal immigrants.”

The department said it is rescinding standards from the Clinton administration allowing illegal immigrants to access federal funds for those education programs, in violation of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). The Education Department’s new interpretive rule also makes clear the illegal immigrants do not have access to Pell Grants and student loans.

Breitbart News reached out to Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) for a comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.