Texas In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens on Shaky Ground

FAIR shows state law is unconstitutional

WASHINGTON—The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) has filed a brief ([link removed]) in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the Trump administration’s lawsuit to shut down Texas’s law granting in-state tuition to illegal aliens who live in the state.

Not only does Texas let illegal aliens attend its public universities, but it lets illegals who meet a three-year state residency requirement pay only in-state tuition, while charging American citizens from out of state much higher tuition.

Congress has passed a law against this practice, giving Americans from any state an entitlement to pay the same in-state tuition to another state’s public universities as illegal aliens who live in that state pay based on their residence.

True, the Supreme Court has held that laws passed by Congress that tell states what laws they may or may not pass are instances of unconstitutional “commandeering” of states. But, as FAIR shows in its brief, if a law of Congress can be read to establish a federal right to engage in certain activity—here, pay the same instate tuition that illegal aliens are allowed to pay based on their residence—that law overrides and preempts any state law that violates that right.

“For Texas, it’s not enough to let illegal aliens—who are not permitted to live in the United States at all—into its state schools, and apply lower admission standards to instate illegal aliens than to out-of-state Americans,” said Christopher J. Hajec, deputy general counsel of FAIR. “Even after all that, Texas also lets them pay much less in tuition than the out-of-state Americans have to pay. That’s where federal law and its supremacy come in, however. We hope the court sees that Congress’s law against this practice in clearly constitutional, and rules for the United States.”

The case is United States v. Texas, No. 25-10898 (Fifth Circuit).

ABOUT FAIR

Founded in 1979, FAIR ([link removed]) is the country’s largest immigration reform group. With over 3 million members and supporters nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced.

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