The debate about a law allowing in-state tuition for undocumented students in Texas might have been reopened Thursday, but it’s likely to be reevaluated during the state’s next legislative session in 2013.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board voted unanimously Thursday to update a state law granting in-state tuition to undocumented students in public higher education institutions in Texas.

The update requires institutions to annually remind undocumented students to pursue legal residency status and encourage them to contact immigration officials. Schools must also keep signed affidavits on file stating that the student pledges to seek legal status.

The law came under national scrutiny in 2011, during Gov. Rick Perry’s Republican presidential nomination campaign. In a key debate, and also in the media, the governor became the subject of controversy for defending the law and implying that detractors were heartless. The board’s consideration of the update began last summer, though, said Dominic Chavez, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board spokesman. The update is simply a mechanism to create a statewide standard for keeping records and communicating with the students benefiting from in-state tuition, Chavez said.

This law could impact 370 students at UTA, according to records compiled by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which haven’t been updated since the fiscal year of 2010. For that year, 16,476 students across Texas were counted as being undocumented students and have signed affidavits on-record.

Critics have said the update could confuse students and put them in jeopardy of detention or even deportation. That’s not the case, Chavez said.

“There’s this suggestion that students will walk off UT Arlington and go to ICE [the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency detention center] in Dallas,” he said.

The reminders are to simply inform students that they signed an affidavit, Chavez said.

“This is your obligation under state law,” he said. “But you need to refer to a federal immigration official.”

Political science professor Jose Gutierrez describes the expansion of the law as a way for government to find undocumented students and their families and deport them.

“It’s the oldest trick in the book,” he said.

Gutierrez referenced how names of blacks in the South during the Civil Rights movement were found via the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People membership registry, how Jews were mandated to enter a registry before World War II and how men, beginning at age 18, have to register with the Select Service System in the United States. The system is the agency that implements military drafts.

State Rep. Diane Patrick, R-Arlington, said the law has been misinterpreted by people who are against it. In-state tuition isn’t just given to any undocumented students, she said. Prerequisites include living in the state for at least three years after receiving a high school diploma or its equivalent in Texas.

Because of the national attention given to the law, Patrick said it is likely that the law will be re-evaluated in the next legislative session and possibly during interim session meetings. Patrick serves on the Texas House of Representatives Higher Education Committee.

UT Arlington would not comment further than saying it would comply with state law.

On the national scene, President Barack Obama’s administration has denounced the deporting of undocumented students who pursue higher education. In August 2010, the administration made its stance known.

“In a world of limited resources, our time is better spent on someone who is here unlawfully and is committing crimes in the neighborhood,” said John Morton, Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, to the New York Times. “As opposed to someone who came to this country as a juvenile and spent the vast majority of their life here.”

The president has also said since then in the media that it doesn’t make sense to educate undocumented students and send them back to their lawful country.

Dallas immigration adviser Ralph Isenberg said he encourages students to heed institutions’ advice. It’s important that as many students as possible sign up for it and report what they are doing to achieve legal status, he said.

“I want people to be responsible citizens,” he said. “Show me what you’re doing with your education.”