Federal appeals court upholds ban on states providing in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens
Portions of the Texas Education Code previously allowed illegal migrants to receive the discounted tuition price as long as they reside in the state.
By Misty Severi justthenews.com 7-10-26
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling Thursday that states are prohibited under federal law from offering in-state tuition to illegal migrants at public universities, a major win for states like Texas trying to fight the scourge of illegal migration.
The ruling comes after the Justice Department sued multiple states over the issue, including California, Kansas, New Jersey and Texas. Portions of the Texas Education Code previously allowed illegal migrants to receive the discounted tuition price as long as they reside in the state.
The order comes after Texas and the Justice Department agreed to have a federal judge block the program. A judge did sign off on a permanent injunction on lower tuition rates for undocumented students in June 2025.
The three-judge panel said in a 2-1 ruling that they could not intervene because federal law blocks the Dream Act and that a lower court was correct in ruling that two advocacy groups, a community college, and a student could not intervene and undo the consent judgment and dismissed the remaining claims for want of appellate jurisdiction.
"The district court correctly denied intervention after concluding that they could not plausibly defend the preemption claim," the appeals court wrote.
Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott celebrated the ruling in a social media post, describing it as a "major victory" for the state and the "rule of law."
"Texas and the Trump DOJ just secured another major victory for the rule of law," Abbott said on X. "The Fifth Circuit upheld the END of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants in Texas."
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