Texas illegal alien students push to have in-state tuition reinstated
A group of illegal alien Texas students have approached a judge requesting that they be able to legally oppose a recent ruling that eliminated their access to in-state college tuition.
The move comes a week after a 24-year old Texas law was overturned, which had allowed certain illegal alien students to receive discounted tuition at public universities.
On Wednesday, a group of illegal alien Texas students approached a judge requesting that they be able to legally oppose a recent ruling that eliminated their access to in-state college tuition.
The move comes a week after a 24-year old state law, known as the Texas Dream Act, was overturned. The bill had allowed illegal alien students who had lived in the state for 3 years and graduated from a Texas high school to receive discounted tuition at public universities.
The Texas Dream Act, which required all students who claimed the benefits to sign documents promising to pursue citizenship, was declared unconstitutional following a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice on June 4.
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Lawyers representing the students, however, stated that this was a “contrived legal challenge designed to prevent sufficient notice and robust consideration,” The Texas Tribune reports.
The Justice Department and the Texas attorney general’s office, however, oppose the motion given that the matter has been resolved and the case is closed.
The students, calling themselves “Students for Affordable Tuition,” are now petitioning U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor for the ability to defend their right to maintain these benefits. If unsuccessful, one Dallas lawyer noted, could bring the entire case to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Represented by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), the illegal alien students plan to argue that the abrupt nature of the law throws a wrench in the plans of many young people.
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MALDEF President Thomas A. Saenz called the striking of the Texas Dream Act “an abuse of our judicial system” and asserted that “[t]hose affected by the attempted invalidation have the right to be heard on the legality of the Texas Dream Act.”
The Higher Ed Immigration Portal reports that Texas is home to nearly 74,000 “undocumented” college students.
Campus Reform has reached out to MALDEF for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
