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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks before President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy, at the Old Post Office in Chicago on June 28, 2023. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has signed legislation expanding access to taxpayer-funded student financial aid for noncitizens, including illegal immigrants.
On Aug. 15, Pritzker approved HB460, which amends the 2019 Retention of Illinois Students and Equity (RISE) Act. That earlier law made illegal immigrants in Illinois—including DACA recipients and other noncitizens without lawful permanent residency—eligible for state-funded financial aid programs. The new amendment, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026, extends eligibility beyond state-administered aid to also cover programs offered by local governments and public colleges and universities.
State Sen. Celina Villanueva, a Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill, said the measure is designed to ensure that students in Illinois are treated equally regardless of immigration status. She said the legislation eliminates a patchwork of confusing and sometimes conflicting requirements that have left “undocumented, DACAmented, and mixed-status students” without access to government aid.
“If you live in Illinois and are pursuing higher education, you should have access to the same opportunities as your peers,” Villanueva said in a statement on Aug. 15. “This law is about making sure no student is left behind because of where they were born.”
Republicans criticized the move, characterizing it as a misuse of taxpayer dollars.
“Governor Pritzker signed House Bill 460 into law, legislation that guarantees illegal immigrants in Illinois have access to student financial aid,” state Rep. Chris Miller, a Republican, said in a statement on Aug. 18. “While you’re figuring out how to pay $500 electric bills, he quickly signed HB460 into law, giving illegals free college! Since Pritzker took office, Illinois citizens have been left behind while illegals get all the handouts they need to feel right at home in Illinois.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee echoed those criticisms. The committee’s spokesman, Mike Marinella, said in a statement on Aug. 19 that JB Pritzker and other Democrats “are bending over backwards to reward illegal immigrants while law enforcement officers are being assaulted, robbed, and shot.”
“This is the modern Democrat Party: criminals get handouts, cops get demonized, and hardworking Americans get stuck with the bill,” he said.
The Epoch Times has reached out to Pritzker’s office with a request for comment on the criticism.
The Illinois measure stands in contrast to moves at the federal level, where the Trump administration has been cracking down on illegal immigration. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed nearly a dozen directives on immigration, including pausing asylum claims at the southern border and ending birthright citizenship.
In February, Trump signed an executive order seeking to end all taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal immigrants. The order notes that a decades-old welfare law denies most public benefits to people who are in the country illegally, but that this law has been undermined.
“Over the last 4 years, in particular, the prior administration repeatedly undercut the goals of that law, resulting in the improper expenditure of significant taxpayer resources,” the order reads.
Earlier this month, Trump announced plans to direct the Commerce Department to prepare a new census that would exclude illegal immigrants from the population count used to determine federal funding and congressional representation.
Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
