With one dissenting vote, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals denied students’ request to intervene in a case that ended enforcement of the Texas Dream Act, upholding the decision to bar thousands of non-U.S. citizens residing in Texas from in-state tuition benefits.
In June 2025, the United States sued Texas over its 24-year-old Dream Act, which provided students without legal documentation access to in-state tuition if they graduate from a Texas high school, have lived in the state for at least three years, and sign an affidavit stating their intent to pursue citizenship at the first opportunity.
The U.S. argued that the law violated federal law that bars special benefits for non-U.S. citizens, and Texas declined to fight the suit. Within hours, a district judge ruled students without legal presence could not access in-state tuition.
Exactly a year later, Austin Community College, a student group and the nonprofit La Union Del Pueblo Entero argued before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans that a judge should let them represent students impacted in Texas’ place and restore the Dream Act.
The appeals court ruled 2-1 that they could not intervene because federal law successfully blocks the Dream Act, according to the decision filed Thursday.
This is a developing story and will be updated.