AUSTIN, TX — FWD.us today joined the Texas Immigration Law Council (TXILC) and the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA)  in filing an amicus brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in defense of the Texas Dream Act and to protect access to in-state tuition for thousands of Texas students.

The amicus brief, which was also supported by a broad coalition of student groups, educators, employers, faith leaders, legal professionals, business, and community organizations, underscores the critical role immigrant students play in Texas’ workforce and economy.

“The Texas Dream Act has helped generations of Texas students pursue their education, strengthen the workforce, and contribute to local economies,” said Zaira Garcia, regional government relations director at FWD.us. “For more than two decades, Texas has led the charge on tuition equity under bipartisan leadership, recognizing that affordable college benefits everyone. We are proud to join community members, experts, and partners in showing the court how eliminating in-state tuition would push higher education further out of reach, roll back decades of progress in expanding opportunity for students who are already part of our communities, and harm our state's workforce and economic future.”

Enacted in 2001, the Texas Dream Act was a landmark legislation to ensure that local students who graduate from Texas schools – regardless of their immigration status – can pay in-state tuition at Texas colleges and universities. Texas’s longstanding tuition equity policy remained in place for over two decades because of its proven benefits to students, communities and employers, until it was repealed this past June.

Without the Texas Dream Act, Texas stands to lose an estimated $461 million in annual economic contributions. At the same time, other recent proposed immigration policies are estimated to result in additional costs as high as $2,150 per year for all American families for everyday goods and services.

Higher education remains critical to ensuring that Texas’s economy remains successful, particularly when faced with these rising costs and existing workforce shortages. In-state tuition access allows more Texans to develop the skills needed in high-demand industries, from health care to education to engineering. In order to protect Texas’s position as a leading global economy, lawmakers must protect access to education for all students in the state.

Additional Resources: 

• Policy Brief: Immigrants make up nearly a quarter (23%) of Texas’s labor force, contributing $192 billion annually to the state’s economy. Read our policy brief here.  
• Report: More than 89,000 DACA recipients live in Texas, with over 97% completing high school, and the vast majority contributing directly to the workforce. Read the full report here.