DOJ coordinated with Texas AG to kill Texas Dream Act, Trump official says

A DOJ official boasted that he was able to kill a Texas law that gave undocumented immigrants in-state tuition by coordinating with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

WASHINGTON — A top Justice Department official boasted at a private Republican gathering that the Trump administration was able to kill a Texas law that gave undocumented immigrants in-state tuition “in six hours” by coordinating with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to a recording obtained by NBC News.

On June 4, the Justice Department sued Texas over the Texas Dream Act, then quickly filed a joint motion with Texas asking a judge to declare the law unconstitutional and permanently enjoin Texas from enforcing the law. The same day, the judge did.

Outside organizations sought to invalidate the ruling Tuesday, arguing that the Justice Department and Paxton’s office “colluded to secure an agreed injunction” and engaged in improper “legal choreography” to obtain their desired outcome.

Speaking at the Republican Attorneys General Association a day after the quick court victory, Deputy Associate Attorney General Abhishek Kambli seemed to confirm that.

“So just yesterday, we had filed a lawsuit against Texas, had a consent decree the same day, or consent judgment, and it got granted hours later,” Kambli told participants, according to audio obtained by NBC News. “And what it did was, because we were able to have that line of communication and talk in advance, a statute that’s been a problem for the state for 24 years, we got rid of it in six hours.”