Since 2001, the Texas Dream Act has allowed Texas high school graduates who meet certain requirements to qualify for in-state tuition at public colleges and universities, regardless of their immigration status. During the recent Texas legislative session, some lawmakers proposed legislation that would have limited the provisions of the Texas Dream Act so that Texas high school graduates who are undocumented could no longer qualify for in-state tuition.
Children’s Defense Fund-Texas, alongside members of the Texas business community, current and former Texas Dream Act students, and our partners across the state, fought back hard against this legislation, and none of it passed. Legislators chose to keep the Texas Dream Act in place, recognizing the huge benefits it brings not only to Texas young people, but also to our state’s universities, businesses, and economy.
Yet in June, shortly after the legislative session ended, the federal Department of Justice brought a lawsuit against the State of Texas, challenging the legality of the Texas Dream Act. Within a matter of hours, our state’s Attorney General agreed to settle the lawsuit, resulting in a court order that now prohibits Texas from applying the Texas Dream Act to immigrant students who aren’t lawfully present in the U.S.
Litigation is ongoing to challenge the settlement agreement and uphold the legality of the Texas Dream Act, but the outcome of that process is uncertain, and the court order remains in place for now.
This means that many Texas college students are suddenly being required to pay nonresident tuition—a threefold increase from in-state rates, on average—for the fall semester, even though they were considered Texas residents up until now. On top of that, students who are being recategorized as nonresidents under the court order are also losing any state financial aid they had been awarded. For many students, this steep price increase means they will face financial hardship, and some may no longer be able to afford to continue their education at all, even if they are close to graduating.
Another problem created by the court order is that even students who are lawfully present are being wrongfully denied in-state tuition in many cases due to confusion, lack of understanding of the complexities of immigration law, and inconsistent interpretations of the court order among higher education institutions.
Now, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board—the state agency responsible for “partner[ing] with the legislature, businesses, and other key stakeholders to ensure our state’s higher education goals are aligned with our state’s economic and talent needs”—has proposed new administrative rules that will guide Texas higher education institutions in rolling out the changes needed to comply with that court order. Children’s Defense Fund-Texas and our advocacy partners are concerned that these rules harm immigrant students, including by:
- Perpetuating an incomplete, inaccurate understanding of “lawful presence” that wrongfully excludes many lawfully present students from the in-state tuition they are still eligible for; and
- Allowing institutions to share sensitive student information with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to verify lawful presence.
The issue of data privacy when it comes to information sharing with USCIS is particularly concerning since USCIS officers have recently been granted new authority to carry guns and carry out immigration enforcement duties such as making arrests and executing warrants.
Stand with us and take these three steps to support Texas students impacted by challenges to the Texas Dream Act:
- As an individual or an organization, please sign onto the joint public comments created by the Education for All Texans coalition (made up of CDF-TX and partner organizations), which will be presented to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board at a public hearing on Monday, September 22. The deadline for signing on is close of business TODAY, Friday, Sept 19.
- If you are in the Austin area, please attend the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s hearing in person this coming Monday to provide public comments encouraging the Board to pass rules that (1) protect Texas students from privacy violations that could put their safety at risk, and (2) provide clarity so that colleges and universities don’t continue to wrongfully deny in-state tuition to lawfully present immigrant students due to confusion and factual errors. (Read more about the proposed rules in our coalition’s joint comments here and here.)
Hearing details:- DATE: Monday, September 22
- TIME: 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
- LOCATION: The Barbara Jordan Building, Room 2.034 (1601 Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78711)
- REGISTER Online by September 21, using this Public Testimony Registration Form (enter Proposed Residency-Related Rules in the subject line), or register in person at the hearing.
- ORAL COMMENTS at the hearing are limited to 3 minutes or less.
- Share the resources posted on this Linktree with impacted Texas Dream Act Students and allies who are interested in helping them navigate these recent policy changes.
Thank you for supporting Texas young people as they seek to advance their education and build a successful future for themselves and their families!
Author: Trudy Taylor Smith, Esq., Senior Administrator of Policy and Advocacy, CDF-TX