Austin Community College, North Texas student, look to join lawsuit over end of Texas Dream Act
FILE - Students throw their mortarboards in the air during their graduation photograph. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
DALLAS - A community college and activist groups are seeking to reinstate Texas' in-state tuition for undocumented students, challenging a recent settlement that ended the program.
Austin Community College; La Unión del Pueblo Entero, an advocacy group for the low-income community in the Rio Grande Valley; and Oscar Silva, a University of North Texas student, are asking the judge to let them intervene in the case.
They are being represented by attorneys from several activist groups, including ACLU Texas and Democracy Forward.
The Justice Department sued Texas on June 4, claiming the Dream Act, which allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition as long as certain conditions are met, violated federal laws.
A settlement between the sides was announced later that same day.
Efren Olivares, the National Immigration Law Center's legal director, said the settlement between the state and federal government is alarming.
"If the Trump administration and state officials can use this judicial process to end a decades-old, democratically adopted law, there’s nothing to stop them from using similar tactics to attack other policies and civil protections," Olivares said. "This is a fight to protect access to higher education for all Texans, but also a fight to uphold one of the basic tenets of our democracy."
What they're saying:
In the motion, attorneys claim Texas and the federal government worked together to end the program after attempts to repeal the program failed in the state legislature.
"The United States did not even have to serve its lawsuit; Texas was ready and waiting," court documents state. "The United States filed an executed waiver of service, Dkt. 5, and hours later, on the same day the Complaint was filed, the Parties filed a Joint Motion for Consent Judgment."
Austin Community College, in the filing, said 440 students were impacted by the decision.
Court documents state the school expects the decision will cause some students to see tuition rates jump from $1,020 to $4,236.
"A change so drastic and sudden is unprecedented, and will cause many students to withdraw from ACC, not to mention those who will be deterred from applying," the filing states.
LUPE Executive Director Tania Chavez called the decision to end the program a "direct attack on undocumented young people."
"This decision doesn’t just hurt students. It crushes families. It fuels anxiety. It forces teens to choose between school and survival. No one should be punished for trying to build a better future," Chavez said.
Texas public colleges and universities must identify undocumented students
Big picture view:
The motion comes days after Texas Higher Education Commissioner Wynn Rosser sent a letter to college and university presidents in the state asking them to identify which attending students were undocumented.
The letter did not provide guidelines on how institutions should handle the identification process or who would have access to the information.
It also indicated that the process would need to be completed before the end of summer so undocumented students can be "charged non-resident tuition" for the fall semester.
Students for Affordable Tuition
On June 11, Students for Affordable Tuition filed a similar motion asking to intervene in the lawsuit.
The students are hoping for a chance to argue their case for the Texas Dream Act.
Court documents state the average cost for SAT members to attend a college or university in the state will increase by up to 810% compared to their current rates.
"Such an increase puts college out of reach for many students--some of whom have already spent years in college and will not afford to complete their program," SAT's attorneys said.
The filing highlights several students across the state that may not be able to complete their degree if the Texas Dream Act is ended.
Texas Dream Act
The backstory:
For nearly 25 years, the Texas Dream Act has provided access to in-state tuition for thousands of undocumented migrant students at Texas colleges and universities.
The law allowed for students without legal resident status to qualify for in-state tuition if they have lived in the state for three years before graduating from high school, and for a year before enrolling in college. They must also sign an affidavit promising to apply for legal resident status as soon as possible.
The Texas Dream Act was signed into law by Republican Gov. Rick Perry with bipartisan support in the state legislature.
Well before DACA provided federal protection to undocumented children, Texas was the first state to create this type of tuition program for them.
Now more than a dozen states provide a similar program.
The program serves around 20,000 students in Texas, according to the nonprofit organization Every Texan.
Despite multiple Republican attempts to repeal the law, those efforts never made it to a full vote in the Texas house.
The most recent attempt happened this session. Senate Bill 1798 passed out of committee on May 14, but was marked as "not placed again on intent calendar" on May 26.
The settlement between the state and federal governments came just days after the most recent Texas legislative session ended.
The Source: Information on the motion to intervene comes from filings in the Northern District of Texas and ACLU of Texas. Information on Texas public colleges and universities being required to identify undocumented students comes from a letter from the Texas Higher Eduction board. Backstory of the original case and the previous motion to intervene come from previous FOX 7 reporting.