In-State Tuition for Undocumented Texas Students Ends Abruptly (Analysis)
Texas capitulates to Federal Government
The Republican Governor and Attorney General of Texas agreed not to defend a 20+ year-old state law from a Trump Administration legal challenge that will have the immediate effect of tripling tuition for 57,000 undocumented students enrolled in Texas Community Colleges and State Universities - and leaving few avenues for them to appeal.
On the same day that US Attorney General Pam Biondi challenged the 24-year-old Texas law that granted in-state tuition to undocumented students who lived in the state for three years before graduating from high school and for a year before enrolling in college, Abbott & Paxton quickly entered into a "consent decree" effectively ending it.
Governor Greg Abbott tweeted that "Texas is permanently enjoined from providing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants."
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton tweeted that he "successfully stopped a law that unconstitutionally provided in-state tuition to illegal aliens."
Paxton declared that "ending this un-American provision is a major victory for Texas."
The "Texas Dream Act," which gave undocumented students in-state Texas tuition, was passed under Texas Republican Rick Perry in 2001 and has been unsuccessfully challenged since then (including during the most recent session, which ended on June 2, 2025).
This raises questions about why two fierce "States' Rights" advocates in Greg Abbott & Ken Paxton would suddenly knuckle under a federal challenge to a longstanding Texas law.
Besides having two Trump-friendly officials like Abbott & Paxton in place, there's no secret why the current administration came after Texas. Twenty-three other states - many under GOP control - established similar policies after Texas did in 2001.
This brings us to the crux of the effect of the Texas consent decree: Can it be overturned?
While generally considered final and non-appealable, a consent decree can be challenged or set aside if it was obtained through fraud. And here, the Texas consent decree may have an Achilles heel.
The Trump Administration argues that the Texas law "provides in-state higher education tuition to aliens but not to out-of-state American citizens."
However, the Texas Law requires undocumented students to reside in Texas for three years before graduating from high school and a year before enrolling in college to qualify for in-state tuition.
By comparison, US residents are only required to reside in Texas for a year to qualify for in-state tuition.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton turned that difference on its head by arguing the Texas law provided "benefits to aliens, who are not lawfully present in the United States, based on their residency in Texas, that are not available to all U.S. citizens regardless of residency."
In other words, though the Texas law required longer residency requirements for undocumented students than US Citizens, Paxton asserts it was still discriminatory because not all (lesser) requirements for US residents are based on how long they lived in Texas.
This capitulation by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to the powers of the US Federal Government, which they vigorously opposed during the Biden Administration, could upend enrollment in universities around the state, and could push tens of thousands of students from continuing their education in the Fall of 2025.
Should Texas stop offering in-state university tuition to undocumented high school graduates who have lived in Texas for several years?
Share your opinion in the comments on this article!
Abrazos,
Jack Beavers
Why are they stiil undocumented? Tx. Has been emptying its pockets trying to stem illegal immigration. this will help
Very little vulnerability - it can't be fraudulent if the State law was in violation of Federal law:
“States like Texas have been in clear violation of federal law on this issue,” said Robert Henneke, executive director and general counsel at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the conservative think tank that brought the 2022 lawsuit. “If anything, it’s surprising that this wasn’t brought earlier."
-per your link at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/04/texas-justice-department-lawsuit-undocumented-in-state-tuition/