Illinois Democrats Put Illegal Immigrants Above Citizens Once Again

Written by Alyssa Sonnenburg

Illinois State Representative Barbara Hernandez (D-Aurora) and State Senator Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago) co-sponsored the bill, HB5093.

This bill would expand in-state tuition eligibility for students who are here illegally attending a public Illinois university. Lawmakers want to make sure that illegal immigrants receive the same tuition reduction perks as legal, law-abiding Illinois residents.

Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, this bill passed both Houses with Democrats in favor and Republicans in opposition.

Once again, Illinois Democrats prove that illegal immigrants are equal to legal, Illinois residents and deserve to be compensated with your hard-earned tax dollars.

And once again, Illinois tax-payers will be forced to foot the bill.

In order to keep in-state tuition affordable for Illinois students, Illinois tax-payers aid in the cost of college expenses and operational funds.

According to a 2011 analysis conducted by AIR (American Institutes for Research) and NEXUS (Nexus Research and Policy Center),

“Taxpayer subsidies that cover the operating costs of most colleges and universities range from around $8,000 to more than $100,000 for each bachelor’s degree awarded, with most public institutions averaging more than $60,000 per degree…”

And these numbers are from over a decade ago. For Illinois, the numbers have become much worse.

In March of 2024, Illinois Policy noted that Illinois tax-payers were going to need to pay an additional $1.4 billion over the next decade to cover state funding for tuition.

Why, you may ask, is so much money “needed?” Because of the rising cost of living that Illinois residents are experiencing under the heavy taxation from Democrat woke policies, the population of Illinois continues to drop every year (a fact that Governor Pritzker chooses to blatantly deny).

However, instead of easing the tax burden and passing laws that strengthen families, Democrats continue to demand more and more from them.

Governor Pritzker’s 2027 Fiscal Year Budget proves that demanding more of legal, hardworking Illinois tax-payers is on the agenda once again.

“Earlier this week, Governor JB Pritzker presented to the General Assembly his proposed fiscal year 2027 budget for the state, which includes a higher education budget of $2.7 billion. The higher education budget includes a one percent increase in operating funding for public universities ($13 million) and community colleges ($3 million).

The fiscal year 2027 proposed budget also supports ongoing affordability initiatives by investing $721.6 million to maintain the Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants and $50 million in AIM HIGH grants, bringing total funding to $771.6 million to support a projected 158,700 students annually.  With these investments, nearly every MAP recipient at or below the median income level can attend community college tuition-free through a combination of MAP and federal financial aid.”

The higher education budget is out of control. Add to the fact that this bloated budget will now benefit illegal immigrants.

You should be outraged.

Illinois State Senator Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) posted on his social media the following response:

“The university bureaucracies love it because it means more revenue. Illinois families get the bill. At a time when tuition is already too high, Springfield is once again putting everyone else ahead of the taxpayers who actually live here.”

TAKE ACTION: Click HERE to email Governor Pritzker today and urge him to reduce the tax burden on Illinois families, which forces many to leave the state, and stop giving taxpayer benefits to illegals.