The Department of Justice is suing Utah for allowing some undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at state-owned colleges and universities — a move the department argues stands to “undermine federal law.”

President Donald Trump’s DOJ alleges the tuition break favors people who aren’t in the country legally over U.S. citizens who don’t receive the same benefit. Utah was one of three states the agency sued Thursday, along with Washington, D.C.

The state allowance dates back to 2002, when Utah’s Republican-dominated Legislature passed a law allowing undocumented immigrants who are high school graduates and have applied for lawful residency to get a break on tuition — paying the in-state cost, rather than the higher amount charged to out-of-state students.

Such students are not eligible for federal financial aid, but are eligible for some state scholarship programs.

“No more placing illegal aliens over American citizens on this Department of Justice’s watch,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, Jr. said in a DOJ news release.

The DOJ had previously sued 21 other states over similar laws with courts in six states — Texas, Kansas, Illinois, South Dakota, Nebraska and Oklahoma — ruling the in-state tuition statutes were unconstitutional.

The Utah System of Higher Education, which is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, said in a statement Thursday that “education is the heart of our mission.”

“We support students who meet the eligibility requirements established in state law and defer to the Utah Legislature’s authority to set tuition policy for our public colleges and universities,” the statement read. “We will continue to administer that in accordance with legislative direction.”

The other two states the DOJ sued Thursday were Arkansas and Hawaii.

Generally, the migrant students eligible for these benefits in Utah are referred to as “Dreamers,” often brought to the U.S. at a young age, where they then grow up but do not have legal status. They are exempt from deportation through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The program was championed by the late Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch.

The lawsuit asks the court to prohibit Utah colleges and universities from extending any postsecondary education benefits — including in-state tuition and scholarship eligibility — to undocumented immigrants.

“This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said in the department’s news release.

Julie Stewart, with Comunidades Unidas, a Utah Latino advocacy organization, said if successful, the lawsuit would deprive students of the opportunities that come with a college education — higher lifetime earning potential, home ownership, civic engagement and stable relationships — and hurt the state’s economic productivity in the process.

“[This is] another example of the DOJ under the Trump administration undermining and compromising our future,” said Stewart, who serves as vice chair of the group’s board.

Its large-scale impact would be relatively minor, she added, since historically, less than 1% of the state’s college population has fallen into the category.

“But the outcome for the lives of people for whom college is torn out of their hands is going to be momentous,” she said. “Once again, this is all about theater and lacking any kind of policy substance, other than its ability to destroy lives.”

There have been attempts to repeal Utah’s law since its passage, most recently one sponsored by Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, earlier this year. Lee’s bill passed the House, but the bill failed after no senator would sponsor it in that body.

Lee has blamed Senate leaders, in collaboration with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which Lee said opposed the bill, for its failure.