Texas links arms with DOJ to strike down law granting cheaper college tuition to illegal immigrants

A federal judge late on Wednesday issued a permanent injunction against a Texas law that allows illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition costs.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) just hours earlier sued the state over the law, and instead of fighting back against the lawsuit Texas agreed with the DOJ, paving the way for the joint motion.

Texas’ “Dream Act” was passed in 2001 and allows those who are not lawfully present in the country to qualify for reduced, in-state tuition costs at public state colleges. The DOJ argued, and the state of Texas agreed, that the law discriminates against U.S. citizens from other states who are required to pay higher tuition rates to attend certain schools in Texas.

“Today, I entered a joint motion along with the Trump Administration opposing a law that unconstitutionally and unlawfully gave benefits to illegal aliens that were not available to American citizens,” Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a press release following the court’s decision. “Ending this discriminatory and un-American provision is a major victory for Texas.”

The order was issued by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, an appointee of former President George W. Bush.

The DOJ did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Legislators in Texas previously tried to pass a bill that would have effectively overturned the same law.

Illegal immigration skyrocketed under the Biden administration, with hundreds of criminal illegal migrants flooding into the U.S. through the southern border since former President Joe Biden took office. Roughly 11 million total border encounters occurred at the southern border throughout the Biden administration.

Before he was inaugurated, President Donald Trump promised to declare an emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border and use military assets to aid in mass deportations, which he did on the first day of his second term. The president has since issued a directive allowing criminal illegal aliens to be arrested on school grounds.

Border crossings have since plummeted under Trump. As of March, ICE has arrested over 30,000 illegal immigrants in the U.S., about half of whom it claims are convicted criminals.

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