Austin, Texas (AP)-The Ministry of Justice tried to block a law in Texas on Wednesday that has given college students for decades without legal residence in US access to reduced tuition fees in the States.
Texas was the first state of the nation in 2001 to pass a law that allowed “dreamer” or juvenile adults without legal status to be in the state of tuition fees in the States if they meet certain residence criteria. And while two dozen countries now have similar laws, the Trump government submitted the lawsuit in conservative Texas, in which the Republican governor Greg Abbott and the legislature have long tried to support its difficult goals at the border.
The lawsuit is also made just a few days after the end of the state legislative meeting, in which a canceled legislation was considered by the group of Republicans, but ultimately no vote arose.
The lawsuit is now asking a federal judge to block the Texas law. It is supported by the latest executive regulations signed by Trump to stop state or local laws or regulations that the administration discriminated against.
“According to the federal law, schools that do not offer US citizens cannot offer any advantages,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “The Ministry of Justice will tirelessly fight for federal law and ensure that US citizens are nowhere to be treated in the country like second-class citizens.”
According to the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a non -partisan non -partisan group of university leaders who focus on immigration policy, Texas have enrolled around 57,000 undocumented students. The state has a total of around 690,000 students at its public universities.
The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton did not immediately comment on the lawsuit, and the employees did not answer immediately on e -mail messages to receive a comment.
The lawsuit was submitted in the Wichita department if the northern district of Texas, which the state and conservative legal disputes have often selected to submit complaints that submit the federal government and questions such as healthcare and gay and transgender rights.
The Texas law was initially passed by extensive majorities in Texas legislation and signed by the GOV at the time. Rick Perry, a Republican, to open the access to university education for students without already living legal stays in the state. Pendants and now they argue the state of the state by creating a better trained and better prepared worker.
“Target group attacks on Texas students who are looking for affordable university education led by the Trump administration will not help anyone, they only hurt us all,” said Luis Figueroa of every Texaner, a left-wing group for public politics.
The difference in tuition fees is significant. For example, a state resident at Flagship University of Texas in Austin paid around $ 11,000 in tuition fees for the academic year 2024-2025 compared to $ 41,000 for students outside of Texas. According to the school estimates, other expenditure for housing, deliveries and means of transport can add more than 20,000 US dollars more.
The law allows students without legal residents to qualify for tuition fees in the States if they have lived in the state for three years before completing the high school and one year before the college. You also have to sign an affidavit that promises to apply for legal status for the law as soon as possible.
However, politics was soon given up by conservatives and critics who, who described it unfairly for the legal residents, reinforced debates about illegal immigration. In the Republican presidential code of 2012, Perry finally apologized after saying that critics of the law “had no heart”.
The legislative efforts to announce the Texas law have failed repeatedly, but have started to get traction elsewhere. The Florida governor Ron Desantis, a Republican, signed a legislative template at the beginning of this year, which will be lifted in July’s tuition fees.
