Austin, TX

Justice Department sues Texas over in-state tuition for students without legal residency

Published

9 months ago

June 4, 2025

Justice Department sues Texas over in-state tuition for students without legal residency

By JIM VERTUNO AND NADIA LATHAN, Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Justice Department on Wednesday sought to block a Texas law that for decades has given college students without legal residency in the U.S. access to reduced in-state tuition rates, the latest effort by the Trump administration to crack down on immigration into the country.

Texas was the first state in the nation in 2001 to pass a law allowing “Dreamers,” or young adults without legal status, to be eligible for in-state tuition if they meet certain residency criteria. And while two dozen states now have similar laws, the Trump administration filed the lawsuit in conservative Texas, where Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and state lawmakers have long sought to support his hardline goals on the border.

The lawsuit also comes just a few days after the end of the state legislative session, where a repeal bill pushed by group of Republicans was considered but ultimately did not come up for a vote.

The lawsuit now asks a federal judge to block the Texas law. It leans into recent executive orders signed by Trump designed to stop any state or local laws or regulations the administration feels discriminate against legal residents.

“Under federal law, schools cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” Attorney General Pam Bondi 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 has about 57,000 undocumented students enrolled in its public universities and colleges, according to the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a nonpartisan nonprofit group of university leaders focused on immigration policy. The state has about 690,000 students overall at its public universities.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and state Attorney General Ken Paxton, did not immediately comment on the lawsuit, and staff did not immediately respond to email messages seeking comment.

The lawsuit was filed in the Wichita Falls division of the Northern District of Texas, which the state and conservative litigants have often chosen to file lawsuits challenging the federal government and issues such as healthcare and gay and transgender rights.

The Texas law was initially passed by sweeping majorities in the Texas Legislature and signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, as a way to open access to higher education for students without legal residency already living in the state. Supporters then and now argue it boosts the state’s economy by creating a better educated and better prepared work force.

“Targeted attacks on Texas students who are seeking an affordable college education, led by the Trump administration, won’t help anyone, they only hurt us all,” said Luis Figueroa of Every Texan, a left-leaning public policy group.

The difference in tuition rates is substantial. For example, at the flagship University of Texas at Austin, a state resident paid about $11,000 in tuition for the 2024-2025 academic year compared to about $41,000 for students from outside of Texas. Other expenses for housing, supplies and transportation can add nearly $20,000 more, according to school estimates.

The law allows 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.

But the policy soon came under fire from conservatives and critics who called it unfair to legal residents as debates over illegal immigration intensified. In the 2012 Republican presidential primary, Perry ended up apologizing after saying critics of the law “did not have a heart.”

Legislative efforts to repeal the Texas law have repeatedly failed, but have started to gain traction elsewhere. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, earlier this year signed a bill that will repeal that state’s in-state tuition law in July.

Originally Published: June 4, 2025 at 3:19 PM PDT

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Austin, TX

Texas Primary: Breakdown of Texas races

Published

7 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Democrats tried to stop a mid-decade redistricting effort, but were unsuccessful. Now, we are starting to see some of the candidates emerging in those newly drawn districts. FOX 7 Austin’s Rudy Koski gives a full breakdown.

Posted March 3, 2026 10:32pm CST

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Austin, TX

Remembering Jorge Pederson: Minnesota MMA fighter killed in Austin, Texas, shooting

Published

19 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Remembering Jorge Pederson: Minnesota MMA fighter killed in Austin, Texas, shooting

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – A shooting on West Sixth Street in Austin, Texas, early Sunday morning, killed three people and injured more than a dozen others, according to the Austin Police Department. APD confirmed one of the victims was 30-year-old Jorge Pederson, a Minnesota man who worked as an MMA fighter for the Med City Fighting Championships.

“You meet tons of fighters and there are people that stand above the rest that you find you enjoy or find the most amusing,” MCFC Co-Owner Matthew Vogt said. “He was definitely one of them.”

According to Vogt, Pederson was also the owner of a Minnesota business called Metro Movers. Vogt said the MMA competitor touched everyone’s hearts since his first day of fighting professionally in Rochester.

“As soon as we met him when it was the weighing time, we just loved the guy already because he had a great mission or spirit about him,” Vogt said. “He was a funny guy and great fighter.”

Vogt told KTTC when he first saw the news that Pederson was killed, he could not believe what he saw.

“I was looking, like, ‘Wait a minute. Is this one of his shenanigans or did something actually happen there?’” Vogt said, recalling the moment he saw a social media post regarding the shooting in Austin. “I confirmed with a few people and I’m just like, sometimes, some things happen that you don’t even like, you don’t even know how to respond to it because it’s just so out of left field that you don’t immediately have a response to it.”

MCFC confirmed there is an online fundraiser dedicated to supporting Pederson’s family. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than $10,000 has been raised.

“He was someone that always could make anybody laugh,” Vogt said. “Support his family through the fundraiser and take a look at his Instagram especially to see how funny he was.”

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Austin, TX

Here are the major statewide and Austin-area races on the ballot Tuesday

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Here are the major statewide and Austin-area races on the ballot Tuesday

A voter heads into the Ben Hur Shrine polling place in Austin as early voting begins for the March primary elections in Texas, Feb. 17, 2026. Voters can cast their ballots to decide who represents Republicans and Democrats in the November midterm elections.

Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman

A rare mix of competitive races up and down the ballot has voters turning up to the polls in droves ahead of Tuesday’s primary election, which will set match-ups in the high-stakes midterms in November.

Voters will decide if U.S. Sen. John Cornyn gets to keep the seat he’s held for more than two decades and which candidates will likely take a slew of redrawn congressional seats meant to give Republicans an edge. The races could decide control of Congress.