Sponsor
Wesley Hunt
Representative · R-TX
Representative · R-TX
The bill trades expanded local discretion and access to in‑state tuition and some federal benefits for a uniform federal enforcement of immigration‑based eligibility that redirects federal funds toward citizens and lawfully present residents but risks decreased educational access, funding shocks for institutions and governments, and litigation.
U.S. citizens and lawfully present residents would be prioritized for federal higher-education funding, directing limited federal resources to students who meet federal eligibility rules.
States and institutions that limit in‑state tuition and benefits to lawfully present residents can avoid loss of federal funds, preserving grants, student aid, and other federal support for compliant entities.
Federal agencies and administrators would have clearer legal authority and fewer timing ambiguities to enforce eligibility and cooperation rules, reducing some administrative uncertainty.
Undocumented students who previously qualified for in‑state tuition or State financial aid would likely lose that access, raising their college costs and reducing college enrollment among this group.
Public colleges and universities that do not comply could lose all federal financial assistance for a fiscal year, jeopardizing financial aid, research grants, and institutional budgets.
States and localities that offered broader access risk losing federal funding streams or facing penalties, pressuring costly policy reversals and provoking interstate/federalism litigation; this could harm K–12, higher education, and other federally supported programs.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Conditions federal higher‑education funding on states and public institutions denying in‑state tuition and state aid to undocumented immigrants.
Official title: To amend section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to prohibit the provision of Federal financial assistance to States and public institutions of higher education that provide certain higher education benefits to aliens who are not lawfully present in the United States, and for other purposes.
Introduced December 18, 2025 by Wesley Hunt · Last progress December 18, 2025
Conditions federal higher-education funding on states and public colleges denying in‑state tuition and state financial aid to aliens not lawfully present, and converts a provision of an existing Executive Order about denying federal benefits in sanctuary jurisdictions into statutory law. The bill directs the Secretary of Education to declare institutions or States "ineligible" for federal financial assistance if they grant undocumented immigrants in‑state tuition or state-based financial aid on parity with citizen residents, and bars payment in the fiscal year after such a determination.