A federal court has permanently blocked the Texas Dream Act, a 25-year-old law that granted in-state tuition to undocumented students in Texas. The decision is sparking renewed debate over immigration, education, and access to opportunity in Texas.
A federal judge threw down the Texas Dream Act 25 years after it allowed thousands of undocumented students to attend college. The ruling followed a lawsuit by the Trump administration and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who claimed the statute unlawfully offered students without legal status residence benefits not available to other U.S. citizens.
The Dream Act, passed with bipartisan support in 2012, permitted undocumented students in Texas to receive in-state tuition, provided they pledged to become U.S. citizens. After meeting Rosendo, an aspiring aviation mechanic, then-State Rep. Rick Noriega introduced the bill, which Democrats and Republicans, including Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Association of Businesses, supported. TX became the first state to embrace this regulation.
A North Texas judge permanently halted the measure on Wednesday, concluding it violates federal law. “Ending this discriminatory and un-American provision is a major victory for Texas,” Paxton added.
The verdict came two days after the Texas Legislature adjourned without repealing the statute, highlighting legislative inactivity. “It demonstrates a lack of political will to target undocumented students,” said Legal Defense Fund's Antonio Ingram. Texas has 57,000 undocumented college students, many of whom are first-generation college students from low-income households. He stressed the law's relevance.
The law changed the lives of students like Rosendo, who became a U.S. citizen and raised a family in Texas. Noriega believes future students won't have the same chance. “What we're going to see now is—they won't go,” he said of illegal youngsters decreasing college enrollment.
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