The Texas Senate is considering a plan that would increase the cost of college for illegal students, including those who have lived in the state for the majority of their life.
Senate Bill 1798 was sent to the Senate floor for a full vote after the K-16 committee of the Senate voted 9–2 on Tuesday. It would compel those who were previously considered eligible to pay the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition, and it would remove undocumented students’ eligibility for in-state tuition.
The bill’s author, state senator Mayes Middleton, claimed that taxpayers are illegally funding higher education for citizens, estimating that it will cost $150 million for the 2024–2025 school year.
During a Senate education hearing on the measure on April 22, Middleton stated, “These are funds that could have been used for lawful residents, perhaps even to lower tuition and fees.”
Similar legislation is being considered by the House. State Representative Cody Vasut, a Republican from Anglet, introduced House Bill 232, which would require students who are 18 years of age or older to show proof that they have applied to become permanent residents of the United States in order to be eligible for in-state tuition.
Additionally, both bills would require students to pay the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition if their school finds they were misclassified or if their application for permanent residency in the United States is rejected.
By enabling colleges to withhold a student’s diploma if they fail to pay the difference within 30 days of notification and if the diploma has not yet been awarded, the Senate’s legislation would go one step further.
Additionally, the Senate bill requires colleges and universities to report students they believe have misrepresented their immigration status to the Attorney General’s Office, prohibits them from using any state funds for financial aid to undocumented students, and links their state funding to adherence to the law.
The Senate’s bill has received backing from organizations that favor stricter immigration laws.
One of the numerous incentive systems that encourage illegal immigration into our state is destroyed by this. Chris Russo, president of Texans for Strong Borders, who has ties to a white nationalist organization, stated, “Certainly not the biggest incentive structure, but one of a plethora.”
In recent weeks, numerous undocumented students testified before lawmakers for hours, voicing their opposition to both the Senate and the House measures. They said that Texas has benefited from investing in them.
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Born in the United States at the age of two, Emiliano Valencia said that he was able to obtain a bachelor’s degree in finance, open a restaurant, and eventually launch a construction company in the state by working as a bank teller and paying in-state tuition.
Generally speaking, out-of-state tuition costs three times as much as in-state tuition.
Texas was the first state to allow illegal students to enroll in classes and receive grants in 2001. Although Florida has revoked its statute, it is currently available in 23 states as well.
According to current Texas law, undocumented students who have resided in the state for three years prior to high school graduation and one year prior to college enrollment are eligible for in-state tuition. Additionally, they have to sign an affidavit promising to apply for legal resident status as soon as possible.
Only 1.5% of all students enrolled at Texas institutions in 2023 were these so-called “affidavit students,” according to Luis Figueroa, chief of legislative relations at the leftist think tank Every Texan.
The American Immigration Council estimates that every graduating class of “affidavit students” contributes $461.3 million to the Texas economy annually.
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These bills are troubling because they come at a time when the federal administration has made immigrants its top enemy, according to Faye Kolly of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, even though previous attempts to end in-state tuition for undocumented students in the Texas Legislature have failed.
Kolly opposed the House’s version of the bill in written testimony. Both proposals would have that impact, even though they don’t specifically do away with in-state tuition for students without legal status like the Senate’s version would.
