Civil Rights · Sep 14, 2026DOJ Sues 24 States, D.C. Over Tuition for Undocumented Students

KEMETIC MINDS
Civil Rights Watch — Daily Update — September 14, 2026

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The Justice Department has now sued 24 states and Washington, D.C. over in-state college tuition for undocumented students — a campaign that has already ended the discount in seven states.

The same day, The Guardian reported that a federal ruling, Callais v. Landry, set aside much of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act with election-law cases still pending.

• The Justice Department filed its lawsuits over in-state tuition state by state, starting last summer with Texas and then Kentucky; the newest filings, made Thursday, target Arkansas, D.C., Hawaii and Utah (Inside Higher Ed, 2026).
• “No more placing illegal aliens over American citizens on this Department of Justice’s watch,” Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. said in a statement (Inside Higher Ed, 2026).
• In-state tuition for undocumented students has already ended in Kentucky, Illinois, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, and Florida barred undocumented students from selective public universities last week (Inside Higher Ed, 2026).
• The Guardian reports that Callais v. Landry set aside much of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act as election-law cases remain pending (MSN, 2026).
• In Kingston, Massachusetts, Gary Phillipo II was charged with a hate crime after police say he yelled racial slurs at a Black man at gas pumps and beat him without provocation (New Bedford Guide, 2026).
• Berlin police are investigating an antisemitic attack in which two men insulted a 43-year-old woman over her Star of David necklace and cut her hand with a broken glass bottle (The Jerusalem Post, 2026).

1. DOJ Has Now Sued 24 States and Washington, D.C., Over Tuition

Inside Higher Ed describes a Justice Department that has worked “steadily” down the list of states allowing eligible noncitizens to pay in-state tuition (Inside Higher Ed, 2026).

The count now stands at 25 lawsuits covering 24 states and Washington, D.C. (Inside Higher Ed, 2026).

What the government argues

The suits claim the tuition policies encourage illegal immigration and disadvantage Americans from other states who do not qualify for the discounted rate (Inside Higher Ed, 2026).

Advocates for undocumented students call the filings “a coordinated assault on the rights of undocumented students” (Inside Higher Ed, 2026).

Where the discount is already gone

• Kentucky, Illinois, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and, most recently, Kansas have ended in-state tuition for undocumented students (Inside Higher Ed, 2026).
• Florida, which passed a bipartisan in-state tuition bill in 2014, eliminated its policy in February 2025 and last week barred undocumented students from enrolling in any selective public university (Inside Higher Ed, 2026).
• More than 180,000 undocumented college students attend school in those seven states, and another 220,000 live in states where litigation is ongoing, per the Higher Education Immigration Portal (Inside Higher Ed, 2026).

Nationwide, roughly 525,000 undocumented students are in college (Inside Higher Ed, 2026).

For the 220,000 in states still fighting in court, the rate they pay — and whether they can stay enrolled — is unresolved.

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2. Callais v. Landry Leaves Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in Doubt

The Guardian reports that Callais v. Landry set aside much of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and that election-law cases remain pending (MSN, 2026).

The report is brief, and the gap matters: it does not say which parts of Section 2 were set aside, or which cases are still open (MSN, 2026).

Why the stakes are high

What is clear from the coverage is that the ruling “recasts the fight over voting maps” while the litigation continues (MSN, 2026).

Kemetic Minds has tracked the fallout from earlier voting-rights rulings, including Supreme Court Eviscerates Voting Rights Act, Further Entrenching Racial Disenfranchisement and Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Ruling: A Threat to Black Representation.

Until the pending cases resolve, map-drawers and voters in contested districts have no settled answer on which challenges can still be brought (MSN, 2026).

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3. A Gas-Pump Beating in Kingston and a Bottle Attack in Berlin

Kingston, Massachusetts

Shortly after 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, Kingston police responded to the Cumberland Farms at 41 Main Street for a report of a fight in progress (News Link Live, 2026).

According to police, the victim — a Black man — was at the gas pumps when a stranger began yelling racial slurs at him with no provocation, then charged at him (New Bedford Guide, 2026).

Police say the man kicked the victim, struck him several times and knocked him to the ground. The victim fought back and left with several injuries, including a suspected compound fracture (News Link Live, 2026).

Witnesses described the attacker as “out of control” and irate, and their statements matched the victim’s account, police said (New Bedford Guide, 2026).

Arrest and charges

Officer Dylan Oxsen arrested Gary Phillipo II of Carver at the scene. Police say he kept yelling racial slurs after officers arrived (News Link Live, 2026).

Phillipo was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, assault and battery to intimidate resulting in bodily injury — the state’s hate-crime charge — and disturbing the peace (Fall River Reporter, 2026).

Under Massachusetts law, a hate crime is not a standalone offense (New Bedford Guide, 2026).

At the station, Phillipo complained of an injury and was taken to a hospital, where police say he continued yelling profanity and racial slurs at officers and staff, made derogatory remarks about African Americans and made sexualized comments (News Link Live, 2026).

Investigators later obtained surveillance video from the store that police say further corroborates the victim’s account of an unprovoked attack (Fall River Reporter, 2026).

Police also said Phillipo has a long history of violence; they have not released a detailed prior record in public statements about the case (New Bedford Guide, 2026).

He remained in custody after arraignment and is due back in court next month (News Link Live, 2026).

Berlin

Berlin police opened an investigation Saturday into a suspected antisemitic attack on a 43-year-old woman wearing a Star of David necklace (The Jerusalem Post, 2026).

Two men approached her around 2:30 a.m. between Thursday and Friday on Torstrasse in the Mitte district, directed antisemitic insults at her and attacked her with a broken glass bottle, according to a police statement (The Jerusalem Post, 2026).

She tried to defend herself and suffered several cuts to one hand. The men fled, and she was treated at the scene before being taken to a hospital (The Jerusalem Post, 2026).

The investigation was transferred to the Berlin Criminal Police’s State Security Division, which handles offenses with political, extremist or antisemitic backgrounds. No arrests have been announced (The Jerusalem Post, 2026).

The numbers behind the case

• Berlin recorded 2,268 antisemitic offenses in 2025, up 24.3 percent from the previous year; 64 were classified as violent (The Jerusalem Post, 2026).
• A report by the Berlin public prosecutor’s office published in July said 820 proceedings with an antisemitic background were opened in 2025, compared with 756 in 2024 (The Jerusalem Post, 2026).
• In June, a 47-year-old man wearing a kippah was attacked in Charlottenburg; police say the suspect insulted him and his two children, spat at them and struck the man in the face (The Jerusalem Post, 2026).

Police have not released a description of the suspects or further detail on the woman’s condition (The Jerusalem Post, 2026).

Kemetic Minds has followed the overlap between hate incidents and voting access in Rising Hate Crimes and Voting Rights Erosion: A Double Threat to Black America.

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What’s Disputed or Unconfirmed

Every charge against Gary Phillipo II is an allegation, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty (New Bedford Guide, 2026).

Outlets also disagree on his age: New Bedford Guide and Fall River Reporter say 46, while News Link Live says 40 (New Bedford Guide, 2026; Fall River Reporter, 2026; News Link Live, 2026).

The claim that he has a long history of violence comes from police statements; no detailed prior record has been released publicly in this case (New Bedford Guide, 2026).

In the tuition litigation, the “incentivizes illegal immigration” rationale is the Justice Department’s argument in its filings, and the “coordinated assault” framing comes from advocates quoted by Inside Higher Ed — neither is a court finding (Inside Higher Ed, 2026).

The Callais v. Landry description rests on a single sentence in one report carried by MSN; it does not identify which provisions were set aside or which cases remain pending (MSN, 2026).

In Berlin, the suspects are unidentified, no arrests have been made and police have not described the woman’s condition beyond the cuts to her hand (The Jerusalem Post, 2026).

How to Verify This Yourself

• For the tuition suits, read the Justice Department’s own filings and press releases alongside Inside Higher Ed’s reporting, which identifies each state and the sequence of filings (Inside Higher Ed, 2026).
• For the Kingston case, request the Kingston Police Department’s incident report and the Cumberland Farms surveillance video referenced in charging documents, and check court records for the next hearing date (New Bedford Guide, 2026; News Link Live, 2026).
• For the voting-rights ruling, read the Callais v. Landry opinion and docket directly rather than summaries, and read the Voting Rights Act text at congress.gov; for hate-crime data, go to Berlin’s annual police statistics and the Berlin public prosecutor’s office report, and to SPLC and ADL trackers for U.S. incidents (MSN, 2026; The Jerusalem Post, 2026).

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References

1. MSN. (2026, September 13). Callais Ruling Recasts the Fight Over Voting Maps. msn.com
2. Insidehighered. (2026, September 13). DOJ Sues All States With In-State Tuition Policies for Undocumented Students. insidehighered.com
3. New Bedford Guide. (2026, September 13). Rage at the Pumps: Carver Man Charged With Hate Crime After Unprovoked Beating at Kingston Gas Station. newbedfordguide.com
4. News Link Live. (2026, September 13). Carver man charged with hate crime for unprovoked attack of Black man at Kingston gas station. newslinklive.com
5. fallriverreporter.com. (2026, September 13). Massachusetts man with long history of violence accused of hate crime after unprovoked attack. fallriverreporter.com
6. The Jerusalem Post. (2026, September 13). Berlin woman attacked with broken glass bottle for wearing Star of David necklace, police say. jpost.com

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