The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling ending Texas's 25-year-old Dream Act that allowed undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates. The ruling stands because federal law prohibits states from offering residency-based tuition benefits to undocumented students unless the same benefit is available to all U.S. citizens regardless of state — meaning Texas was treating out-of-state American citizens unfairly by charging them higher rates. D'Souza's framing characterizes this as correcting an improper benefit, though the law had broad bipartisan support when enacted in 2001, and education advocates argued that investing in students educated in Texas's K-12 schools benefited the state's economic development and workforce. It's worth noting that while some states do offer tuition benefits to undocumented students on equal terms with state residents, undocumented immigrants remain ineligible for federal financial aid programs like Pell Grants and federal student loans.