The Trump administration is challenging Texas over a decades-old law that gives in-state tuition to illegal immigrants—sparking a legal showdown that could reshape how states handle immigration and education policy.
On Wednesday, the Department of Justice filed suit to block Texas from continuing to enforce its version of the “Dream Act,” a 2001 law that allows non-citizens who reside in Texas to pay significantly lower in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities. The DOJ argues that this policy violates federal law by giving benefits to illegal aliens that are not extended to all U.S. citizens.
“That is squarely prohibited and preempted by federal law,” the complaint reads, referencing a federal statute that bars illegal immigrants from receiving postsecondary education benefits based on state residency unless all U.S. citizens—regardless of where they live—are also eligible.
Attorney General Pam Bondi called it a matter of fundamental fairness. “Under federal law, schools cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” she said. “The Justice Department will relentlessly fight to vindicate federal law and ensure that U.S. citizens are not treated like second-class citizens anywhere in the country.”
Texas is home to the second-largest illegal immigrant population in the country, with roughly 57,000 undocumented students reportedly enrolled in its state universities as of 2022. For years, Texas has allowed these students to qualify for the same tuition rates as legal residents, a practice that critics argue encourages more illegal immigration and undermines the rule of law.
The DOJ’s lawsuit comes just after President Trump signed two executive orders aimed at tightening immigration enforcement. One, titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders,” mandates that no federal benefits go to unqualified aliens. The other, “Protecting American Communities From Criminal Aliens,” directs agencies to act against state and local policies that favor illegal immigrants over U.S. citizens.
These moves are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to crack down on so-called sanctuary policies nationwide. Earlier this year, the DOJ filed suit against Illinois and the city of Chicago over laws that restrict police cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
The legal argument centers on equal treatment. As the DOJ explains it, a student from Oklahoma or Florida must pay higher out-of-state tuition to attend college in Texas—while an illegal immigrant who has lived in Texas for a few years pays far less. That, the administration says, creates an unfair and unlawful double standard.
The Texas attorney general’s office has not publicly responded to the lawsuit, but the case could have sweeping implications. If the courts side with the Trump administration, similar in-state tuition laws in other blue states may face legal scrutiny or be overturned entirely.
This legal offensive is just the latest example of Trump’s second-term push to eliminate incentives that reward illegal immigration. With the lawsuit now filed, the future of Texas’s in-state tuition law—and possibly those in other states—hangs in the balance.
