TEXAS — A federal appeals court on Thursday struck down a school- and student-led attempt at reopening a 2025 lawsuit that declared the Texas Dream Act unconstitutional.

Students for Affordable Tuition (SAT), La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), Austin Community College (ACC) and former University of North Texas student Oscar Silva made “motions to intervene” in last year’s decision on the Texas Dream Act, according to the ruling from the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

The act, established in 2001, provided in-state tuition to undocumented students if they’d lived in Texas for three years before graduating high school. Last year, the U.S. Justice Department sued Texas over the law on the grounds that the state act violated federal law. Then-Attorney General Ken Paxton repealed it through an agreement with the department.

A 2-1 ruling denied the appeal for intervention from SAT, LUPE, ACC and Silva. Judge Jerry Smith, writing for the majority opinion, agreed with last year’s action, stating “federal law preempts provisions of Texas law authorizing” in-state tuition rates for undocumented students.

That federal law also states that undocumented students cannot receive tuition benefits unless “out-of-state U.S. citizens” are also eligible.

“Texas and the Trump DOJ just secured another major victory for the rule of law,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in an X post Thursday evening. “The Fifth Circuit upheld the END of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants in Texas.”

Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said in a statement that her organization “is extremely disappointed” in the denial and “will continue working diligently to fight” for undocumented students.

“For nearly 25 years, the Republican-led state legislature understood that investing in all students was an investment in the state’s economic future,” Garza said. “Texas students and their opportunity to access a more affordable higher education have propelled our economy forward for the last two decades, and they are pivotal to our shared future. Our state should continue to prioritize economic prosperity and access to higher education for all, regardless of citizenship status.”