USA v. Students (Formally United States of America v. Texas)

Case Overview

On June 4, 2025, the United States sued Texas seeking to invalidate the Texas Dream Act, a landmark law which guaranteed all eligible Texas high school graduates—regardless of their immigration status—in-state tuition at Texas state higher education institutions. On the very same day, the Court enjoined the law. The injunction was a direct result of a “Consent Judgement” made between the U.S. federal government and the state of Texas in the rushed litigation, where both parties agreed to suddenly declare that this twenty-four-year-old state law was unconstitutional.

The National Immigration Law Center, ACLU of Texas, Democracy Forward, Texas Civil Rights Project, and the law firm Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann are seeking to intervene on the case on behalf of La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), the Austin Community College District’s Board of Trustees (ACC), and college graduate student, Oscar Silva. Because of the collusive and speedy manner in which the state of Texas and the federal government entered into their agreement, the Court had no opportunity to consider the question of the constitutionality of the law or hear from the people most impacted by its judgment.

This abusive litigation strategy and the resulting injunction are contrary to the demonstrated will of Texas communities and the acts of the Texas legislature, which just two days prior had an opportunity to repeal this law and declined to do so. In brokering this hasty agreement, the United States and the Texas Attorney General attempted to impermissibly circumvent the legislative process and abused the judicial process to invalidate the law.