As a proud first generation, non-papers graduated from the University of Texas in Austin, and a lifelong product from the public schools in Texas, I am not surprised by the latest coward attack on our immigrant community.
The most recent attempt to strengthen the “Noriega Bill”-also known as the Texas Dream Act-one law that has opened university doors by offering tuition fees for thousands of residents of Texas in the last 24 years is not just a political maneuver. It is a targeted act of cruelty – someone who is intended to erase our contributions, to crush our ambitions and to be ashamed of our existence.
This is not new. Since every legislative session House Bill 1403 was hired in 2001, Texas Republicans tried to withdraw it. And every time, people without papers and allies are in force of power to test late at night, share how in-state tuition fees have changed lives, has lifted families and strengthened entire communities. The 89th legislative session was no different. Students and graduates spoke to their truths and advised legislators to maintain a policy that gave them hope and a chance of their dream professions. Even managers and Chambers of Commerce oppose withdrawal.
But because legislators missed the political courage to force a floor voice in the Capitol in Texas – Bill 1798 died after leaving the committee – the leaders of a coward took the path of a coward. They made the issue to the federal level, where the US Department of Justice Launched a lawsuit against the Noriega Bill (HB 1403) with which Attorney General Ken Paxton in Texas was fast Instead of defending the law of his state, hoping to do that they could not achieve in the sunlight behind closed doors.
Let’s be clear: this was never about ‘protecting’ the university chairs for American citizens. The Noriega Bill gave non -documented Texans the same opportunity as documented Texans. It was always about fear – about sending a hair -raising message to without paper youth that they are not welcome, no matter how long they have lived here, no matter how hard they have worked, or how much they have already returned.
I personally felt this hostility in April, when I testified in opposition against SB 1798 in front of the Texas Senate Education Committee. While the author of the bill read it out loud, I felt the bitterness in every word. I have lived in Texas since 1992. In 2005 I graduated from Ut-Austin-one of the first students without papers who did this hebben enable tuition fees thanks to the 2001 law. I remember that I graduated in 1998 in 1998, not sure whether all my honor and hard work would matter. When HB 1403 passed, I cried in my mother’s arms. It meant that I could dream again.
That policy enabled me to obtain both a bachelor and a master’s degree in nursing with distinctions. I am co-founder of United We Dream, now the largest network in the country led by immigrants by young people. I helped others navigate at the college and even citizenship. In 2018 I became an American citizen and I bought a house. In 2024 I became a mother. And I never stopped arguing and organizing – because I know firsthand that this law has not only changed my life. It transformed entire communities.
Immigrants in Texas have proven time and time again that, when we get the chance, we immediately invest in the state we call home. Former students without papers are now nurses, teachers, engineers and business owners. They are parents, taxpayers and voters. They are your neighbors, your colleagues, your child advisers. Withdrawal of the Noriega Bill is not only unjust – it will be economically and socially devastating for Texas.
We have been here before. But this time it is different. Nowadays, the thousands who have benefited from tuition fees in the state are ready to fight back because we have learned to organize, to speak, to fight back. We know we are not alone. We know our rights. And we know our value.
That is what Governor Greg Abbott and his colleague Trump -Loyalists frighten – not the presence of immigrants, but the power we have built. Instead of concentrating on real problems such as teacher locations, public education or access to health care, they choose to make immigrants again to scapegoat. It’s embarrassing. It’s dangerous. And it is under the dignity of this great state.
To the students without papers who had put their hearts at the university, who received this news as a blow to the intestines: I’m so sorry. Your pain is real. Your anger is valid. But please remember: You are not alone. You will not be defined by politicians who only see you as a talk point. Your dreams are still yours. Your value is immeasurable.
Don’t let this political cruelty dim light. You were always worthy of joy, of education, of safety – not because of a law, but because of who you are. No policy, no limit, no hateful rhetoric can remove that.
Texas made a sensible investment more than two decades ago when the HB 1403 passed. This investment has paid off in the form of stronger communities, a better trained workforce and a richer social life. Dismantling that progress would not only harm immigrants – it would also harm Texas.
We are here to stay. Texas is our home. And we will continue to fight until the policy reflects that truth.
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