The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals—known as one of the most conservative federal appeals courts in the country—denied an appeal on Thursday that would have reinstated the Texas Dream Act, leaving a ruling in place that ends in-state tuition for some undocumented students.
Former University of North Texas student and Dreamer Oscar Silva, Austin Community College, Students for Affordable Tuition, and the advocacy group La Unión del Pueblo Entero were attempting to reopen a 2025 lawsuit that declared the Texas Dream Act unconstitutional.
The policy was signed into law by Republican Gov. Rick Perry in 2001 and allowed students without legal status to qualify for in-state tuition if they lived in Texas for at least three years and graduated from a Texas high school or earned a GED diploma. Texas became the first state in the nation to adopt that kind of legislation.
But in 2025, it was repealed after President Donald Trump’s US Department of Justice sued the state over the policy and Republican Texas Attorney General Paxton agreed that the law was in conflict with federal immigration law.
The federal court ruled 2-1 that the group couldn’t reopen the case to defend the Texas Dream Act because federal law bars states from giving undocumented students a tuition benefit based on residency unless the same benefit is available to all US citizens, regardless of where they live.
The move leaves a lower court’s decision in place, meaning affected students will continue to pay out-of-state tuition rates at Texas public colleges and universities. The decision will impact around 57,000 Texas students without legal status, according to a report from the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration that analyzed 2022 American Community Survey data.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott praised the decision in a social media post, while civil rights advocates called it “one of the greatest juridical travesties in recent history” and a “devastating blow.”
“For nearly 25 years, the Republican-led state Legislature understood that investing in all students was an investment in the state’s economic future,” Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project said in a statement.
“Texas students and their opportunity to access a more affordable higher education have propelled our economy forward for the last two decades, and they are pivotal to our shared future,” she added. “Our state should continue to prioritize economic prosperity and access to higher education for all, regardless of citizenship status. This is a devastating blow to our students and our state, but the fight continues. “
