Texas agrees to end in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants after DOJ lawsuit filed against the state
Texas has agreed to end in-state tuition rates for undocumented immigrants.
The Department of Justice sued Texas on Wednesday over a long-standing state education policy, which it says illegally favors undocumented foreign students. The lawsuit accuses Texas of discriminating against out-of-state American students by offering in-state tuition rates to undocumented immigrants.
That same day, Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a joint motion along with the Trump administration to end the law.
It's one of the latest efforts by the Trump administration to crack down on immigration into the country. President Trump issued two executive orders to prevent "benefits or preferential treatments" from going to undocumented immigrants.
A 2001 Texas law made "dreamers" eligible for in-state tuition
A two-decades-old law allows undocumented immigrants who live in the state to pay in-state tuition.
In 2001, Texas passed a law allowing those referred to at times as "dreamers" to become eligible for in-state tuition if they meet certain residency criteria.
The DOJ said that policy is unconstitutional. Paxton agreed and, in a legal filing, asked the court to issue a permanent injunction prohibiting Texas from enforcing the law.
"Under federal law, schools cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens," Attorney General Bondi said in a statement. "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."
Paxton's filing states "[i]n direct and express conflict with federal law, Texas education law specifically allows an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States to qualify for in-state tuition based on residence within the state, while explicitly denying resident-based tuition rates to U.S. citizens that do not qualify as Texas residents."
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas agreed and entered a final judgment declaring the law unconstitutional and issued a permanent injunction against its application.
"In-state tuition for illegal immigrants in Texas has ended," Gov. Greg Abbott said in a post on X. "Texas is permanently enjoined from providing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants."
Continuing changes
Texas lawmakers have made previous attempts to change the law, but it has never made it out of a legislative session.
Last month, the state senate advanced a bill that would disqualify undocumented students from receiving in-state tuition. That bill would require those who have previously received in-state tuition to pay back the difference.
Twenty-four other states and Washington, D.C., offer in-state tuition for dreamers. Florida did too, but repealed the 2014 law earlier this year. That takes effect on July 1.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What the business world has to like (and not) in the Senate version of Trump's 'big, beautiful bill'
The business community has some clear wins in a Senate version of President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" but it isn't getting everything it wants. The Senate's Finance Committee's 549-page blueprint contains significant changes, especially on taxes, Medicaid funding, and clean energy. One proposal was quickly embraced by the business community: a Senate-side push to make corporate tax deductions permanent around things like interest payments and new capital investments. But a less popular idea is the survival of the so-called revenge tax that would allow the government to levy new duties on foreign nations and their businesses. That idea was introduced in the House version and sparked fears of reduced foreign investment. The version released last Monday pares back the tax but doesn't eliminate it entirely, as corporate lobbyists had asked. Specific industries also have plenty at stake from Senate changes if they make it into law. Businesses that work in clean energy will have more time to adjust to the phase-out of Biden-era credits. Restaurants and gig economy companies have more limited tax breaks for tips and overtime. Healthcare providers will also have to adjust to even steeper cuts to Medicaid's provider tax structure — perhaps the most surprising and significant overall change in the Senate version. What the Senate version of the bill doesn't appear to have — as Elon Musk and others had pushed for — is a significant change in the final price tag. Both versions are expected to add trillions of dollars to the debt. The Senate version also raises the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, compared with $4 trillion in the House version. The bill does have one clear cost-saving measure: slashing the annual deduction for individual state and local taxes (SALT) from $40,000 to $10,000. But that provision is described even in the bill's official summary as "the subject of continuing negotiations," with defenders of the deduction pledging to restore the full credit forthwith. The Senate version earned a quick flurry of Republican pledges — from fiscal hawks to defenders of those SALT deductions to those who object to the Medicaid cuts — to vote no if the final version isn't changed to their liking. "We're not seriously addressing our long-term deficit and debt," Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told reporters soon after the unveiling, reiterating that he remains a no. The back and forth comes just weeks ahead of Republicans' self-imposed deadline to get the bill to the president's desk by July 4. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said sticking to that timeline means Senate passage by the end of this coming week. Ed Mills of Raymond James offered in a note that "we continue to view the July 4 target as ambitious" — suggesting that SALT and Medicaid provisions in particular could be under continued debate in the days ahead. Here is a closer look at some of the major business world changes being proposed by the Senate: A key focus for business owners is a series of tax deductions that will reinstate credits for corporations around things like property depreciation, capital investments, new factory construction, interest expenses, and research and development costs. These provisions were present in the House version but only temporarily. Permanency was a key Senate priority once they took over, even as it is expected to increase the price tag. The bill "powers the economy by permanently extending critical pro-growth provisions and introduces new incentives for domestic investment, providing certainty for American job creators to spur domestic economic activity and invest in their workers," offered Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo as he unveiled these provisions. The Senate version also enhances credits for "opportunity zones," which provide tax relief in rural and distressed communities. The bill also includes Trump's campaign promises of no taxes on tips and overtime, but in a more limited form. Employees would be able to deduct up to $25,000 annually for tips and overtime, in contrast to the House's approach of 100% deductibility under certain income limits. The Senate blueprint also includes a rollback of clean energy credits for things like solar panels and electric vehicles. The changes in the Senate would make that phaseout slower — zeroing out some key credits by 2028 — but with a bottom line that Republicans across the spectrum are united in eliminating these benefits entirely. Amy Hanauer, executive director of the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, reacted to the released proposal by saying that "the emerging clean energy economy will be curtailed and for what?" "Our communities will be worse off as a result of this legislation,' she added. On the fossil fuel side, the Senate bill continues to include changes to make permitting less laborious, open up new lease sales, and reverse a fee on excess methane emissions. The Senate bill also includes a controversial plan to limit the ability of states to regulate artificial intelligence. The Senate's provisions are less airtight, stopping short of the outright ban proposed by the House, but are expected to remain a point of contention and potentially an issue for the Senate parliamentarian, given the Senate's complex reconciliation rules. Other changes in the bill appear to cut against business interests at least slightly. The Senate bill makes permanent the so-called pass-through deduction — formally called a 199A deduction for small businesses — but at the current rate of 20%. The House version also had permanency, but at a higher rate of 23%. Meanwhile, a clear focus of business lobbyist ire has remained in the bill, but in a slightly diminished form: the so-called revenge tax. This idea would allow a president to punish companies and countries if they adhere to foreign laws that policymakers find objectionable. In Trump's case, things like the digital services taxes that often hit tech companies overseas. The Senate version, in a nod to the flurry of concerns, set a maximum rate of 15% and delayed implementation until 2027 but kept the concept intact. In addition to that tax, the SALT and Medicaid changes are likely to be most in focus in the days and weeks ahead. Tobin Marcus of Wolfe Research noted Tuesday morning that "SALT changes underscore the reality that this is another step forward in negotiations, not the final answer." He added that "we still view late July as the real deadline." This story has been updated. Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Click here for political news related to business and money policies that will shape tomorrow's stock prices Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
22 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Hegseth and Gen. Caine Detail Air Strikes Against Iran
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, detail the strike against three Iranian nuclear facilities. Dubbed "Operation Midnight Hammer," it involved B-2 bombers, a submarine that launched Tomahawk cruise missiles and bunker-buster bombs. Hegseth says the mission was not about a regime change in Iran. They speak at the Pentagon. (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pentagon officials reveal new details about U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites
Senior Pentagon officials on Sunday morning shared new details about the U.S. military operation to strike Iran's three key nuclear sites, calling it the "largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history." Watch the full briefing.
