Young Conservatives v. Smatresk, No. 22-40225 (5th Cir. 2023)
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Texas allows illegal aliens who satisfy residency requirements to pay that in-state, lower tuition. A Texas university student group of out-of-state students, the Young Conservatives of Texas Foundation (YCT), sued officials at the University of North Texas, arguing that Texas’ tuition scheme violated federal law. The district court agreed and barred the university from charging out-of-state tuition.
The Fifth Circuit reversed the judgment and vacated the injunction. The court reasoned that Section 1623(a), the statute expressly preempts state rules that grant illegal aliens benefits when U.S. citizens haven’t received the same. No matter what a state says, if a state did not make U.S. citizens eligible, illegal aliens cannot be eligible. Section 54.051(d)—the one and only section challenged here—does not grant those benefits. It does nothing more than set the tuition price for nonresident students, citizens or not. It takes no stance on whether illegal aliens are eligible for a cheaper price. Section 1623(a) has nothing to say about a rule like that. Therefore, Section 54.051(d) is not expressly preempted by Section 1623(a). The court ultimately held that because the district court awarded a permanent injunction by relying on its erroneous preemption analysis, it abused its discretion.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on August 14, 2023.
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