Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has made it pretty clear that he wants to run for president in 2028. It appears he believes that giving student financial aid to illegal aliens is going to help him with that goal.
Pritzker recently signed a bill into law opening student financial aid to all residents, regardless of immigration status.
Transgenders benefit too.
The bill purports to establish "equitable eligibility for financial aid and benefits" for all students in the state.
The bill reads that "a student who is an Illinois resident and who is not otherwise eligible for federal financial aid, including, but not limited to, a transgender student who is disqualified for failure to register for selective service or a noncitizen student who has not obtained lawful permanent residence, shall be eligible for financial aid and benefits,” Fox News reports.
Legal Illinois students with legitimate needs are likely to suffer, says Ira Mehlman the media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
"This is money No. 1 that Illinois doesn't have. The state budget is a mess. People are leaving the state, and at the same time you have many American students in Illinois who need this very limited amount of financial aid that they can get to pay very high tuition rates. He’s deciding, ‘well they're just going to have to compete with illegal aliens for this limited pot of dollars.’ You can understand why people are leaving Illinois in droves."
Pritzker isn’t the first Democrat in recent years to play fast and loose with student loans owed back to taxpayers.
Former President Joe Biden, before withdrawing his reelection bid, sought to cancel billions in student loan debt.
Biden’s Supreme Court workaround
The Supreme Court ruled that Biden’s Department of Education didn’t have the authority to cancel debt for tens of millions of people at once.
In response, the administration rolled out more narrow, targeted plans that were difficult and more difficult to challenge in court. Many were considered on a case-by-case basis and tied to existing statutory authority.
As of Jan. 13, 2025, seven days before Donald Trump took office, the Biden-Kamala Harris administration had succeeded in cancelling $183.6 billion in student loan debt to more than 5 million borrowers, according to The New York Post.
A spokesperson for the Illinois GOP told Fox News that "once again, Governor Pritzker proves that he is prioritizing illegal immigrants at the expense of Illinois families."
