Students, immigrant-rights advocates and Austin Community College asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday to let them defend the Texas Dream Act that has helped thousands of immigrant students lacking permanent legal status afford college.The law allowed students who attended and graduated from high school in Texas to pay in-state tuition, even if they did not have legal immigration status. A federal judge blocked the law a year ago after the Trump administration sued the state, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton agreed not to defend it.Now, Students for Affordable Tuition, La Unión del Pueblo Entero, Austin Community College and student Oscar Silva want a chance to defend the law themselves. Paxton’s office and Justice Department lawyers say the case shouldn’t be reopened because the Texas law conflicts with federal immigration law.
The backgroundTexas was the first state to let certain immigrant students pay in-state tuition when lawmakers passed the Texas Dream Act in 2001 with little debate and broad, bipartisan support.The law, signed by the Republican former Gov. Rick Perry, allowed certain students without legal status to qualify if they graduated from a Texas high school or earned an equivalent diploma here, lived in the state for at least three years before graduating and signed an affidavit saying they would seek permanent residency as soon as they were eligible.
