The US Department of Justice has sued Colorado over its policy of offering in-state university tuition rates and financial aid to undocumented immigrants. The federal government argues that the policy unlawfully gives educational benefits to people without legal immigration status and disadvantages US citizens, making it part of a wider dispute over state support for such students.

The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in a federal court in Colorado and names the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, the state Department of Higher Education and its director, JB Holston, as defendants. The Justice Department said Congress had made clear over the past three decades that Colorado could not provide these education benefits, though the supplied article text does not include Colorado’s response.