Austin, Texas– Today, a group of teachers, students, legal experts from ACLU of Texas and the Texas Immigration Law Council, and representatives from the Texas State Teachers Association and National Education Association, hosted a press call to discuss the alarming and accelerating national attacks against in-state tuition rates for students who are undocumented. This follows the repeal of the Texas Dream Act last month and the Department of Justice’s recent actions to sue Kentucky and Minnesota over their in-state tuition laws.
To access the recording from today’s press conference, please click here.
Juan Martinez-Guevara, Texas Advocacy Manager of United We Dream, said:
“The wrongful and undemocratic repeal of the Texas Dream Act is being pushed as a blueprint to end in-state tuition and persecute students in other states, from Kentucky to Minnesota. In-state tuition isn’t about benefiting one group of students over another. It’s about ensuring all students –no matter their background– have the opportunity to learn, gain valuable skills and experience, and secure stable careers that provide them, their families, communities and states with greater financial stability and independence.
Ending in-state tuition is a deliberate and wicked effort to keep predominantly Black and brown immigrant students in a permanent caste in society where they are underpaid and exploited. After 24 years of the Texas Dream Act, we cannot normalize state leaders colluding with the federal government to undemocratically undo lawful, longstanding policies that Texans strongly support. We urge teachers, elected officials, business leaders and more from every state to be outspoken against this blatant attack on the right to education for all.”
Rory, Undergraduate student in Texas impacted by repeal of the Texas Dream Act, said:
“The Texas Dream Act is more than just a policy; it’s a lifeline. It’s an opportunity. It upholds a simple but powerful truth: education is a right, not a privilege. All students deserve the chance to succeed alongside their peers, no matter where they were born. Denying education based on immigration status undermines the very principles of fairness, opportunity, and justice that education and this country are meant to stand for.”
Al, Recent graduate student in Texas impacted by repeal of the Texas Dream Act, said:
“The Texas Dream Act has always been a benefit to all of Texas, not just to students like me. And its repeal will have widespread impacts on the state and the industries that immigrants have helped power. It means undocumented students who are pursuing nursing won’t be able to fill the nursing shortages that cause the Labor & Delivery unit to close at Big Bend Regional Medical Center in rural Texas. It means that students who are undocumented and pursuing teaching can’t fill the teacher shortages being faced in Bryan Independent School District. Upholding the Texas Dream Act is about ensuring economic stability for Texas as a whole and strengthens our ability to show up for our neighbors and each other collectively.”
Dr. Gladys Fatima Marquez, Executive Committee Member at the National Education Association, said:
“Whether in Texas, Kentucky, or Minnesota, the Department of Justice under the Trump Administration is taking alarming steps to rollback in-state tuition, dismantling higher education as we know it, and putting in jeopardy the dreams and aspirations of our students. Let’s be clear what this is about. It is about the cruel and intentional effort to deny these young people the freedom to learn.
“These students are in our schools, colleges and universities. We educate them every day. We know their names, their families, their dreams, and aspirations. They are like any other student that we teach and work with in our classrooms. They play sports; they go to prom and homecoming. They are future scientists, doctors, and, yes, educators like me. The Trump administration and its allies want to kill the dreams of these young people by denying them the right to learn, spreading fear and division based on what language we speak or the ZIP code in which they live.”
Krystal M. Gómez, Managing Attorney at Texas Immigration Law Council, said:
“For more than two decades, the Texas Dream Act has been a smart, bipartisan policy—strengthening our workforce, growing our economy, and opening doors for thousands of Texas high school graduates each year. Every Texas high school graduate deserves the same opportunity to pursue higher education and contribute to our state, regardless of where they were born. The Texas Dream Act was not just a policy, it was a promise to hardworking students and to our future. When every graduate has access to affordable higher education, individuals thrive, families prosper, and Texas wins.”
Ovidia Molina, President of the Texas State Teachers Association, said:
“This was the law in Texas for 24 years. That means Texas believed in it and approved it. That means that educators and community members, families, business people all wanted this. They knew that it was good for Texas. And now, all of a sudden, we are attacking immigrants at every level in every way. This is just one more way we are telling our immigrant communities that they don’t belong. And that’s not true. We all belong in Texas.”.
